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PLANT OF KENTUCKY TOBACCO 

From a Sketch hy TT. A.. Brennan 



Tobacco Leaves 

Being 

A Book of Facts 
For Smokers 



BY 

W. A. BRENNAN 

Department of Medical Sciences 
The John Crerar Library 




PUBLISHED FOR 

Index Office, Inc. 

BY 

ffilje QIallegtate ^resa 

GeOEGE BANTA PUBIilSHINQ COMPANT 

Menasha, Wisconsin 
1915 



^ M k 



R 






First issue ^^ * 



December, 1915 



>x] 



Copyright 1915 

by 

W. A, BBENNAN 



By transfer 
^- S. Soldiers Home Lib, 

.»"'. 1 4 1936 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introduction 7 

Chapter I 11 

Historical, Botanical. 
Chapter II 19 

The Cultivation of the Tobacco Plant. 
Climatic and soil conditions — Treatment 
of the growing plant — Shade grown 
tobacco — Harvesting. 

Chapter III 29 

Production of Tobacco. 

Countries which produce tobacco and 
amount — Production in the New World 
other than in the United States — 
Varieties. 

Chapter IV . . . ' 39 

Production of Tobacco in the United States. 

Total production — Amount produced by 

the different States — Varieties raised 

— Description of the different varieties. 

Chapter V 53 

The Chemical Composition of the Tobacco 
Plant. 
Organic and inorganic matters contained 
in tobacco and the part they play — An- 
alysis of various tobaccos — Nicotine. 

Chapter VI .61 

The Curing of Tobacco Leaf. 
Objects of curing — Methods. 



Chapter VII 67 

The Marketing and Sale of Tobacco Leaf, 

Methods of disposal by the grower — The 
warehouse system — Direct purchase — 
Principal markets in the United States 
— Prices. 

Chapter VIII 75 

Rehandling and Fermentation of Tobacco 
Leaf Prior to Manufacture. 

Selection of leaf— Treatment and blend- 
ing — Objects and methods of manu- 
facturers fermentation — Action of 
microbes. 

Chapter IX 88 

Manufactured Products of Tobacco in the 
United States. 

Statistics of production and consumption 
Amount of capital invested — Number 
of plants, etc. 

Chapter X 93 

Cigars: Historical and General Facts. 

History — Statistical information regard- 
ing the cigar business in the United 
States. 

Chapter XI 99 

Cigars and Their Qualities. 

Qualities of cigars and cigar leaf — Im- 
ported cigars — Havanas — Domestic 
cigars. 



Chapter XII Ill 

Cigar Making. 

Hand-made cigars — Machine-made cigars 
— Classification of cigars — Terms used 
in the cigar trade. 

Chapter XIII 121 

Pipe Smoking and Chewing Tobacco. 

Qualities required — Description of kinds 
Perique tobacco — Statistics. 

Chapter XIV 131 

Cigarettes. 

Statistics — Kinds and where made — Im- 
ported cigarettes — Domestic cigarettes 
— Cigarette papers. 

Chapter XV 143 

Snuff. 

How made — Qualities — Description of 
kinds. 

Chapter XVI 149 

Tobacco Smoking Pipes. 

History — How made and materials used 
in making — Meerschaum — Briar root — 
Amber — Special kinds of pipes — Care 
of pipes. 

Chapter XVII 171 

Effects of Tobacco Smoking on the Human 
System. 

Physical and other effects — Opinions of 
medical men quoted and discussed. 



Chapter XVIII 195 

The Beneficial Effects of Tobacco. 

Its disinfecting action — A protection 
against infectious disease — Psycho- 
logical effects of smoking. 

Chapter XIX 207 

Miscellaneous. 

Revenue, taxation, etc., in connection with 
tobacco — Free imports — The insect 
pests which attack tobacco — Tobacco 
flavoring fluids, etc. — Formulae. 



INTRODUCTION 

This little book is intended for the man who 
uses tobacco. While there is a very extensive 
literature concerning tobacco, yet it is sur- 
prising how few books there are written express- 
ly for the smoker. Much has been written 
concerning culture, production and manufac- 
ture; the historical and anecdotal aspects have 
been catered for; pamphlets and books abusing 
and denouncing the use of tobacco are plenti- 
ful; but the smoker will find it difficult to get 
a book just giving him the facts concerning 
tobacco and smoking, which he ought to know, 
and omitting matters, which, although interest- 
ing, are not necessary. This little book is an 
attempt to fulfil that purpose; and it is felt 
that no apology is needed for its appearance. 
If the average user of tobacco is questioned 
concerning the matters treated in the following 
pages, he will be found ignorant of them. This 
ought not be so. The custom of tobacco smok- 
ing is so general and so intimate a part of the 
daily life of the great majority of men, that a 
better acquaintance with the plant, its qualities, 
uses and effects, should be cultivated and wel- 
comed. 

No claim is made for originality. The facts 
here stated have been gathered from various 



sources and the only credit claimed is for put- 
ting them together in a concise and consecutive 
form. The object aimed at is to give informa- 
tion. Whether the custom of tobacco smoking 
is desirable, whether in any individual case it 
would be beneficial or otherwise to smoke — these 
and similar questions are left to the reader's 
own judgment from the facts and opinions pre- 
sented, as well as from his own observations. 
The man who uses tobacco daily should know 
what he is doing. If statements are made either 
verbally or in print concerning the custom he 
should be able to verify them or show that they 
are incorrect. It is trusted that the informa- 
tion given in these pages will enable him to 
form a clear judgment whatever the judgment 
may be. 

It may be felt that many aspects of the use 
of tobacco and matters connected with it have 
either not been touched on, or only referred to 
very briefly. The reader who may desire fur- 
ther information will find it in the bibliographi- 
cal references given throughout the book. These 
references have generally been consulted by 
the author and his indebtedness is acknowl- 
edged here. 



To My Wife 



CHAPTER I 

HISTORICAL— BOTANICAL 



11 



HISTORICAL 

The history of tobacco commences with the 
discovery of the New World by Columbus. The 
Chinese claim that it was known and used by 
them much earlier, but there appears to be no 
evidence to support this claim. Columbus found 
the natives of Cuba smoking the dried leaves, 
and his followers are said to have brought the 
plant to Spain about 1512. Oviedo published 
a book entitled La Historia general de las 
Indias in Seville in 1526, in which he mentions 
pipe smoking. It may be inferred that this 
custom was well established in Spain then. 
Sir Walter Raleigh is usually credited with hav- 
ing brought tobacco to England for the first 
time from Virginia in 1586; and the Virginian 
Colonists are known to have cultivated the plant 
at that time; but there is evidence enough to 
show that Sir Francis Drake was the first to 
introduce the plant into England. Drake's 
voyages were made between 1570 and 1580 and 
he brought the plant with him in one of these. 
Some give the date of introduction by Drake as 
1560. Raleigh was, however, probably the first 
English distinguished smoker, and he cultivated 
the plant on his estate at Youghal, Ireland. 
There is no doubt about the culture of tobacco 
by the early English Colonists in the U. S., 

IS 



but it is doubtful whether the plant was in- 
troduced by them from England or whether 
they continued a culture learned from the Na- 
tives. From Virginia it spread to the other 
colonies. In Peru and other parts of South 
America the growing of tobacco was well es- 
tablished at the time of the Spanish Conquest. 

In 1560 Jean Nicot, the French Ambassador 
at Lisbon, sent some tobacco to Catherine de 
Medici as a cure for headache. Catherine was 
pleased with it and is said to have become quite 
addicted to its use. Tobacco was designated 
the "Queen's herb" and the "Sovereign herb" 
from this circumstance and Nicot himself is 
perpetuated in the word "Nicotine" and its 
derivatives. 

Many persons erroneously give credit to 
Nicot for the introduction of tobacco into 
Europe. It is quite clear, however, from 
Oviedo's book, quoted above, that the plant 
was known in Spain very much earlier; and it 
is most probable that the immediate followers 
of Columbus brought samples of the leaves and 
pipes back to Spain with them. Moveover, in 
1558, Phillip II of Spain sent Francisco Her- 
nandez, a physician, to investigate the re- 
sources, etc., of Mexico, and on his return he 
brought back tobacco as one of the products, 
and grew it as a drug. From Spain and Eng- 

14 



land, the use of tobacco spread by degrees all 
over the known world. 

REFERENCES 

Penn, W. a. The Soverane Herbe; a history of 
Tobacco. Chapters I^ II. London and New 
York, 1901. 

BouANT, E. Le Tabac; culture et Industrie. 
Paris, 1901. 

Shew^ Joel. Tobacco; its history, nature and ef- 
fects on the body and mind. Wortley, 1876. 

Billings, E. R. Tobacco; its history, varieties, 
culture, etc. Chapters II, IV. Hartford, Conn., 
1895. 

Comes, O. Histoire, geographic, statistique du 
Tabac. Son introduction et son exp^insion dans 
tous les pays depuis son origine jusqu' a la fin 
du XIX siecle. Naples, 1900. 

Fairholt, F. W. Tobacco; its history and associa- 
tions. London, 1876. 

Wolf, Jakob. Der Tabak und die Tabahfabrihate. 
Chapter I. Leipzig, 1912. 

BOTANICAL 

Tobacco belongs to the family of plants 
known in botany under the name of Solanacece 
Other well-known members of this family are 
the Irish potato, the red pepper, the tomato, 
the egg-plant, etc. 

15 * 



American tobacco belongs almost exclusively 
to that group of this family which comprise 
the genus Nicotiana. Of this genus there are 
about 50 separate species, one of which, Nico- 
tiana Tabacum, supplies almost all the tobacco 
of commerce. Plants of this species grow from 

2 feet to 9 feet in height; they have numerous 
wide-spreading leaves sometimes as much as 

3 feet in length; these leaves may be oval, 
oblong, pointed, or lanceolate in shape, and 
are generally of a pale green color when young ; 
they are arranged alternately in a spiral on 
the stem; the root is large and fibrous; the 
stem is erect, round and viscid, branching near 
the top. The alternate arrangement of the 
leaves on the stalk, succeeding each other 
spirally, so that the 9th overhangs the 1st, the 
10th the 2nd, and so on, is very characteristic. 
The distance on the stalk between the leaves is 
about 2 inches. Flowers are in large clusters, 
with corollas of rose color, or white tinged with 
pink. The leaves and stalks are covered with 
soft downy hair. The plant is perennial but 
crops are usually raised from seed. 

Of this species (N. Tabacum) there are prob- 
ably more than 100 varieties grown in the U. S. 
alone. Some of the best known will be described 
later. 



16 



To this same species (N. Tabacum) Havana, 
East Indian and European tobaccos principally 
belong. The other important species are : 

Nicotiana Persica. Grown in Persia. This 
has a white flower and the leaves almost enwrap 
the stem. It is used almost exclusively as a 
pipe-smoking tobacco. Some claim that this is 
only a variant of N. Tabacum. 

Nicotiana Repanda. This is a species of 
Cuban tobacco entirely different from that 
grown in the Havana district. It is also called 
Yara. 

Nicotiana Rustica. A kind of wild growing 
tobacco principally cultivated in Mexico, and 
which is claimed as the parent of some of the 
Turkish, Syrian and Latakia tobaccos although 
many authorities claim that these tobaccos be- 
long to the species N. Tabacum. The European 
tobacco is hardier than the American parent 
plant. The leaves are smaller. 

N. Rustica. Also includes common Hungar- 
ian and Turkish tobaccos. There are large and 
small leaved varieties. 

N. Crispa. Grown in Syria and largely in 
Central Asia. Used as a cigarette tobacco in 
the Orient. 

It has been stated above that there are many 
varieties of N. Tahacwm in the U. S. Of these 
the most important are known to botanists 

17 



by the names, Nicotiana Tahacum Macrophylla 
and Nicotiana Tahacum Angustifolia. 

Maryland tobacco belongs to the Macro- 
phylla variety and there are many other types 
differing from each other according to shape 
of the leaf, size of the stalk, etc. 

Virginian tobacco is of the Angustifolia 
variety, and of this also there are many dif- 
ferent types. 

Most European and other grown tobaccos 
have been raised from original plants of the 
Maryland and Virginian varieties. 

It should be remembered that there is no 
essential difference in cigar, pipe smoking or 
cigarette tobaccos. The differences are physi- 
cal only. All kinds may be obtained from the 
same species or even the same variety of the 
species by suitable culture and crossing. 

REFERENCES 
Anastasia, G. E. Le varietd delta Nicotiana 

Tahacum. Scafati, 1906. 
Comes, O. Delle razze dei tahacchi. Naples, ipOo. 
KiLLEBREW, J. B. and Myrick H. Tohacco leaf ; 

its culture and cure, marketing and manufacture. 

Part I. New York, 1897. 
Lock. C. G. W. Tohacco growing, curing, and 

manufacturing. Chapter I. London and New 

York, 1886. 
Wolf, J. Der Tahac. Chapter II. Leipzig, 1912. 
Billings, E. R. Tohacco; its history, varieties, 

etc. Chapter I. Hartford, Conn., 1875. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CULTIVATION OF THE TOBACCO 
PLANT 

Climatic and Soil Conditions. Treatment 

OF the Growing Plant. Shade Grown 

Tobacco. Harvesting 



19 



THE CULTIVATION OF THE TOBACCO 
PLANT 

A few general facts concerning the culture of 
the tobacco plant and its treatment until it 
reaches the hands of the manufacturers will be 
of interest for the smoker. 

The general principles underlying the culture 
of tobacco are the same whether it is intended 
for the cigar, pipe smoking or cigarette trade; 
but the treatment of the leaf after it is har- 
vested differs considerably. 

Tobacco is a perennial plant. It is, however, 
usually raised each year from seed. The seed- 
lings are usually ready for planting towards the 
end of May and are generally planted between 
the last week in May and the middle of June. 

The successful raising of tobacco depends on 
four principal factors; (1) the climate, (2) the 
nature of the soil, (3) the seed, and (4) on the 
method of culture. 

The climate must be such as to favor rapid 
growth and therefore must furnish sufficient 
heat and moisture during the time the plant is 
growing. The fineness of the texture and the 
elasticity of the leaf depend on the climate. 

On the soil the plant depends for its food, 
and for the absorption of those chemical con- 

21 



stituents on which depend the burning qualities, 
the strength and the color. 

The physical qualities of the plant, structure 
and form, thickness of veins, size, shape and dis- 
tribution of leaves, are derived from the seed. 

Finally, on the method of cultivation (includ- 
ing the curing process) depends in part the 
final color, flavor and aroma; the type and 
trade value ; that is to say, on successful cul- 
ture and harvesting and treatment at the right 
time and in the best way, must depend the 
grower's hopes of the final value of his crop. 
The quantity of nicotine, essential oils, etc., on 
which flavor and strength depend, is regulated 
to the greatest extent by the time of cutting. 

The nature of the soil is a very important 
matter in the culture of tobacco, for the color 
of the cured tobacco leaf depends almost entire- 
ly on the soil. The light colored leaf is grown 
on light colored soil and the darker leaf is 
grown on heavy, dark soil. The best type of soil 
for the raising of tobacco intended for the cigar 
trade is a warm, deep, sandy loam which rests 
on permeable well-drained subsoil. The very 
light colored yellow tobacco cannot be raised 
except on light colored, porous soils ; and so 
susceptible is this matter of the coloring of the 
leaf that it has been noted that the darkening 
of the soil by a liberal allowance of stable man- 
22 



ure will, on a very light colored soil, change the 
color of the tobacco leaf from a bright yellow 
to a mahogany shade. Very light sandy soils 
or very light loams with clayey subsoils are 
usually chosen for these light yellow tobaccos. 
Although by processes subsequent to growth it 
is possible to darken the color of tobacco leaf, 
there is no known process that will make a dark 
leaf light in color. 

Moreover, the soil must be very fertile and 
rich in the special substances needed by the 
growing plant. This is all the more necessary 
because tobacco is a rapidly growing plant, 
and reaches its maturity within a few months 
after its planting. The rapidity of growth 
therefore demands a rich fertile soil well stored 
with plant food. Good manuring, or liberal 
treatment with fertilizers, is essential for keep- 
ing such soils in prime condition, because the 
period of growing must not be extended. 

Tobacco is usually planted in rows, the rows 
being from three to four feet apart, the usual 
arrangement being that the plants are generally 
about 12 or 18 inches apart in the row. Some 
planters, however, give the plants more room 
for many reasons, varying the distance between 
the plants even as much as 30 inches. Cigar 
leaf tobacco plants are usually placed about 14 
inches apart. 

23 



There are various operations necessary dur- 
ing the growth of the plant. The most import- 
ant of these for our purpose are those known 
as "priming' or "thinning out" and "cutting." 
Priming is usually done when the plant is well 
advanced in growth, but the time varies with 
different growers and according to the species. 
It consists in removing the lower or imperfect 
leaves from the plant, or these which have in 
any way become injured from insect or other 
harmful agencies. As a general rule the larger 
the number of leaves there is on a plant the 
lower is the quality of the subsequently cured 
leaf. An average of about 10 leaves to each 
plant is what is favored by most growers, and 
the plants are usually thinned to this extent. 
Seed buds are removed also at the same time 
and for the same reason. If the plants are 
"thinned" late and when they are approaching 
full growth the leaves removed are not des- 
troyed, but are cured separately and sold as 
inferior quality and are usually called "prim- 
ings" or "planters lugs." 

In the Southern American States the tim.e 
allowed for the growth and maturing of the 
plant is somewhat longer than in the eastern 
and more northerly states where the soil, owing 
to richer fertilization, favors the rapid growth. 
Moreover, a stronger quality of tobacco is 

24 



wanted and the extra time allows the plant to 
effect a greater elaboration in its cells of the 
oils and gums, etc., which contribute particu- 
larly to strength and flavor. 

Shade Grown Tobacco 

The matter of rapid growth has, however, its 
limitations. Too much sunlight is considered a 
disadvantage. Under such powerful action, 
nutrition is drawn quickly from the soil and the 
plants ripen too quickly. Under such circum- 
stances the leaves tend to become heavy bodied 
and not very large in size. To defeat this ten- 
dency and produce large, thin silky leaves for 
the cigar trade, the grower sometimes covers 
his field with a tent of cheese-cloth or similar 
protection from the glare of the sun. The 
ripening process is thereby slowed and the 
leaves are thinner, larger and lighter in shade. 
This method is employed principally in Cuba, 
Florida and Connecticut where cigar wrapper 
leaves are produced, and such tobacco is known 
as shade-grown. 

Tobacco which has been planted out at the 
end of May or early in June is usually ready for 
harvesting at the end of August or beginning to 
middle of September. The actual time of har- 
vesting varies a good deal according to the 
variety grown and the physical condition con- 

25 



cerned in the growing of the plant. The heavier 
tobaccos which are intended for the export 
trade are usually harvested late. The most im- 
portant operations connected with the culture 
of the tobacco leaf are the "yellowing" and 
"curing" processes, and, as these commence 
with the cutting of the plant, this latter must 
be done under strictly favorable conditions in 
order to insure proper results. The cutting 
must not be done while the sun is very hot, or 
while there is rain, or before the plant is fully 
matured. On the other hand, after the plant 
has reached its maturity, it must not be allowed 
to continue its growth, which along with other 
things would be likely to increase its nicotine 
content which is not desirable. The experienced 
tobacco grower knows well from the appear- 
ance of the plant when it is best fitted for cut- 
ting. The leaves become thick and heavy and 
assume a drooping appearance. They become 
crisp with a tendency to break easily, and a 
mottled, spotty look is noticeable on them. The 
surface becomes gummy and oily; the oily sub- 
stances increases and exudates as the days pass. 
When these signs appear the tobacco is cut on 
the first day when the weather favors. It is 
usual in most cases to split the stalks down the 
middle and allow the leaves to wilt, before the 
stalk is entirely cut through. After sufficient 

26 



wilting the leaves are gathered in piles and 
exposed to the action of the sunlight; or they 
are stuck by the stalks on poles or framework 
and so exposed that the sun and air have free 
access to all parts. This is the best and most 
approved practice. "Yellowing" of the leaf is 
very rapid after the plant is cut; it is the 
natural effect due to cutting oif the food supply 
of the leaf and the consequent slow death of the 
vitality of the cells. It must be remembered 
that the leaves are large, varying in size (ac- 
cording to species) from 12 inches to over 2 
feet in length. Such a leaf needs a large quan- 
tity of food and the sudden cutting off of the 
supply effects a rapid change in appearance. 
The leaves are allowed to hang on the scaffolds 
3 to 5 days until they are fully yellowed. They 
are then ready for the process of "curing," 
which is the most important operation con- 
nected with cultivation. The "curing" and 
"fermentation" which the leaf undergoes are 
chemical actions and their success depends on 
the proper method of "yellowing." The leaves 
must not be exposed to the sun too long, be- 
cause the cells would lose their vitality too 
rapidly and be unfitted for the new part they 
have to play in the curing process. The chemi- 
cal changes will be explained in subsequent 
chapters. It is desired that the reader should 

27 



understand that to ensure a successful final 
issue the planter has need to watch continu- 
ously and to know all the conditions. If the 
leaf does not "yellow" properly no amount of 
after care in curing will make up for this de- 
ficiency. In tobacco growing as in everything 
else, to ensure final high quality each step in 
the process must be executed with skill, care, 
and judgment. 

The yield of tobacco per acre varies from 
about 300 lbs. of leaf in the southern states to 
1,000 lbs. or more in the eastern. 700 to 800 
lbs. per acre is considered a good average crop. 

REFERENCES 
KiLLEBREw AND Myrick. Tooacco leaf; its cul- 
ture and cure, marketing and manufacturing. 

Part I. New York, 1897. 
Billings, E. R. Tobacco; its history, varieties, 

culture, etc. Chapter XIII. Hartford, Conn., 

1875. 
Laurent, L. Le tabac; sa culture et sa preparation 

production et consummation dans les divers pays. 

Paris, 1900. 
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers' Bulletins 

Nos. 6 and 60. Tobacco. 
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Bureau of Plant 

Industry. Bulletin 96. Tobacco breeding. 



28 



CHAPTER III 

THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF 
TOBACCO 

Total production. Countries which culti- 
vate TOBACCO. Production in the 
New World other than in 
THE United States 



29 



THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION OF 
TOBACCO 

The world's recorded annual crop of tobacco 
leaf is over one million tons. The latest 
government figures available are those for 1912 
and 1913, and show 2,696,401,379 and 
2,722,190,030 lbs. respectively. Of this amount 
Asia and America produce each about 350,000 
tons, Europe about 250,000 tons and the rest 
of the world the balance. 

The details of the production in the U. S. 
will be given in the next chapter. 

The principal Asiatic countries which pro- 
duce tobacco are China, Japan, Afghanistan, 
India, Persia and Asia, Minor. China has an 
immense production and consumption of tobac- 
co, a large portion of which finds its way into 
western markets for the cigar and cigarette 
trade and is sold as "Turkish" tobacco. No 
figures as to production are available. 

British India and Afghanistan produce good 
tobacco, a lot of which is used in Hindustan and 
other Eastern countries. 

The Persian crop is known to be large, but 
there are no available records of it. In Persia 
most of the tobacco raised is of the species 
known as Nicotiana Persica. This is generally 
known under its trade name of Tumbach or 

31 



Tumbeki (or more correctly Teymbeki). This 
is the common Eastern name for tobacco. It is 
considerably exported to the countries in the 
neighborhood of Persia and is smoked in the 
pipe known as the Narghilli. In this pipe the 
teymbeki burns in contact with a piece of incan- 
descent charcoal. The smoker draws the vapor 
through a flexible tube which passes to the bot- 
tom of a water chamber and passes above it, 
whence it is inhaled. The narghili is technically 
a water pipe. The teymbeki is very strong in 
nicotine, containing up to 5 or 6 per cent. 

Japan produces large and medium size leaf 
of good color but poor in quality. It is 
generally used for pipe and cigarette trade. 

The statistics of production for Asia are ex- 
tremely unreliable. When we consider the teem- 
ing populations of China, India and other 
Eastern countries and the prevalence of the 
smoking habit, it is very probable that the 
figure of production (350,000 tons annually) 
is much under the mark. There is very little 
export of tobacco from the United States or 
Europe to the East. Whatever tobacco is con- 
sumed there is mostly of its own production. 
European Production or Tobacco 

In Europe the principal tobacco producing 
countries are Germany, France, Austria, 
Russia, Italy and Turkey. 
32 



Germany has nearly 40,000 acres under 
tobacco cultivation in Rhenish Bavaria, Baden, 
Hesse, and Alsace-Lorraine. The annual pro- 
duction is about 50 to 70 million lbs. ; and in 
addition nearly 3 times that much is imported. 
German home grown leaf is medium to large in 
size, of fair body, heavy and with coarse veins. 
It is used for cigar filler and pipe, but is not 
suited for cigar wrappers. (See the chapter on 
cigars.) 

French tobacco is raised from Virginia seed. 
It is dark, coarse and heavy and is suitable for 
plug and snuff making only. 

Russia is the largest European producer. 
Russian tobacco leaf is very large in size and 
like the French is coarse, dark and heavy and 
is only fit for plug and snuff making. There is 
a lighter kind grown from Turkish seed in 
South Russia which is fit for cigarettes. 

Italy has made several attempts to cultivate 
good tobacco, and several different types are 
produced. A dark heavy leaf is grown from 
Virginia seed, and a type from Kentucky seed 
is also produced. These types are suitable to 
the dark, heavy fertile soils of Middle and 
North Italy. In the lighter sandy soil of the 
south, the varieties grown are raised from 
Turkish seed and are similar in appearance and 
quality to the genuine Turkish tobacco. 
33 



Hungary is a heavy grower of tobacco and 
produces some of the best in Europe. There is 
a heavy dark type, of a rich brown color, 
medium sized leaf with small and thin veins, 
which is used in cigar manufacture. A small 
bright yellow leaf is also grown, poor in quality 
and aroma, which is used for pipe smoking and 
cigarettes. 

The most important foreign tobacco as re- 
gards U. S. consumers is that known as Turk- 
ish. The leaves of the Turkish tobacco are 
small (about 8" long), clear yellow in color, 
and have a special aroma, which renders them 
peculiarly suitable for the manufacturing of 
cigarettes. The principal producing centers 
are Macedonia, Albania, Syria, Palestine and 
Trebizond, that raised in Macedonia being per- 
haps the most celebrated. Just like the Cuban 
leaf, the very best grades of Turkish tobacco 
are not exported, but are kept for domestic 
consumption. 

Latahia tobacco is produced in the northern 
part of Syria. This tobacco has a very small 
nicotine content. It is produced by a special 
fabrication and is in very great demand as an 
ingredient of pipe smoking mixtures. 

The District of Cavalla in the Province of 
Roumelia, is one of the most important tobacco 
centers in the Turkish Empire. There are 
34 



about 75,000 acres under tobacco cultivation 
and the annual production is about 10,000,000 
lbs. The American Tobacco Co. has a large 
establishment here through which it purchases 
its Turkish leaf, amounting to over 6 million 
lbs. yearly, for the manufacture of Turkish 
cigarettes, etc. 

The total importation of Turkish leaf into 
the United States during 1913 was: 
From Turkey in Europe . . . 10,816,048 lbs. 
From Turkey in Asia 18,955,295 lbs. 

Greece and the Balkan States produce 
tobacco which partakes of the qualities of Hun- 
garian and Turkish, the Grecian leaf being 
used a good deal as a substitute for genuine 
Turkish tobacco. 

Tobacco produced in the New Woeld othek 
THAN IN United States 

The government of Canada has given a lot 
of attention to experiments in connection with 
the growth of tobacco in the Dominion, but only 
with indifferent success. The leaf is raised 
principally from Virginian seed, but is large 
and coarse and is only fit for inferior plug and 
snuff making. 

Cuban Tobacco. The tobacco raised in the 
Island of Cuba is the most celebrated in the 
world for cigar making. The leaf is of a rich, 

35 



brown color; narrow and small in size, varying 
from 8 to 18 inches in length. Its richness of 
flavor and the peculiar aroma are its chief 
characteristics. Cuba produces annually about 
300,000 to 500,000 bales of tobacco varying in 
weight from 80 to 150 lbs. per bale, nearly one- 
half of which is exported to the United States 
alone. 

The importation of Cuban leaf into the 
United States over a series of years is shown 
below ; 

Cuban leaf imports into the U. S. (lbs.) 
1855-1860= 7,014,485 \ 
1871-1875= 8,985,465 /Average 
1886-1 890 = 15,532,075 > Yearly 
1896-1900 = 10,811,173 ( Imports. 
1901-1905 = 24,048,837 ) 
Year 1914 = 26,617,545 
The value in 1900 was $ 8,478,251 
The value in 1905 was $13,348,000 
The Province of Pinar del Rio produces 
about 70 per cent of the entire Cuban crop. 
In this is the District of Vuelto Aba jo which is 
celebrated the world over for the very finest 
cigar tobacco. The District of Habana or 
Havana produces about 13 per cent and Santa 
Clara about 13 per cent. The Cubans them- 
selves favor the dark "Maduro" fully ripened 
leaves. At present a good deal of Cuban cigar 
36 



leaf is grown under shade with the result that 
although when fully mature they are light in 
color, they are rich in flavor. 

The value of the cigar leaf imported by the 
U. S. from Cuba averages at present about 
14 or 15 million dollars annually. 

Porto Rican leaf possesses many of the quali- 
ties of good Havana leaf, and like the latter is 
used in cigar manufacture. The annual pro- 
duction is about 120,000 bales. The U. S. 
imports from 4 to 5 million lbs. annually. 
Further particulars regarding Cuban and 
Porto Rican leaf will be given in the chapters 
concerning cigars. 

Mexico produces a tobacco, large as to leaf, 
dark in color, with heavy body and coarse veins. 
The tobacco is very strong in flavor. The best 
grades approach the Cuban tobacco in quality 
and are imported and used as substitutes for it. 
The U. S. importation is small. The annual 
production is about 34 million lbs. The best 
quality is produced in the neighborhood of 
Vera Cruz, and only a small portion is exported, 
principally to Cuba. 

Brazilian tobacco leaf is brown in color, 
medium in size, and medium in body. It 
posesses fair qualities as a cigar tobacco, for 
which purpose it is generally used in South 
America, which is its principal market. 
37 



East Indian and Philippine Tobacco 
The Dutch East Indies (Sumatra and the 
adjacent islands) produce yearly about 180 
million lbs. of tobacco, all of which is used in 
the cigar business. Of this the United States 
takes about from 30,000 to 40,000 bales of 
Sumatran leaf, about 5% million lbs. About 
2 lbs. of this leaf wraps 1,000 cigars. 

The Philippine Islands produce from 50 to 
100 million lbs, of tobacco annually. The crop 
for 1913 was 101,544,736 lbs. The imports 
into the United States are principally as manu- 
factured cigars by special arrangements which 
will be referred to later on in the chapter on 
cigars. 



38 



CHAPTER IV 

PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO IN THE 
UNITED STATES 

Total production. Amount produced by 

THE DIFFERENT StATES. VARIETIES 

RAISED. Description of the 

DIFFERENT VARIETIES 



39 



PRODUCTION OF TOBACCO LEAF IN 
THE UNITED STATES 

The amount of tobacco leaf raised annually 
in the United States varies from 700 million 
lbs. to 1,000 million lbs. Thus, according to 
the Government Statistical Reports, the pro- 
duction in 1909 was 1,055,764,806 lbs., being 
an unusually high figure. The production in 
1913 was 953,734,000 lbs. and in 1914, 
1,034,679,000 lbs. The average crop may be 
taken as about 800 million lbs., about half of 
which is exported as leaf, and the other half 
manufactured in the U. S. into cigars, smoking 
and chewing tobaccos, etc., and consumed in 
the U. S. To produce this immense crop over 
one million acres of rich, fertile land is under 
culture, the actual government figures for 1913 
being 1,216,000 acres, and for 1914, 1,224,000, 
and the value of the raw crop is from 80 to 
100 million dollars, which works out to an 
average value of from 10 to 12 cents per lb. 
The cost of producing the best grades of cigar 
leaf in the Eastern States is from 8 to 10 cents 
per lb. ; is Wisconsin from 5 to 10 cents. The 
price paid to the growers is from 5 to 15 cents, 
except for the highest grades (cigar wrapper 
leaf) for which special prices, up to 40 or 50 

41 



cents, may be paid. Smoking and chewing leaf of 
average grade fetches from 6 to 7 cents per lb. 
From these figures it will be seen that the 
agricultural industry of tobacco growing is a 
most important one, and it is constantly in- 
creasing both in the quantity produced and in 
value. About 45 of the states in the Union 
are engaged in tobacco culture, the principal 
states and the quantities produced being as 
follows (for 1914): 

Kentucky 364 million lbs. 

North Carolina 172 " « 

Virginia 114 " " 

Tennessee 63 " " 

Ohio 78 " " 

Wisconsin 54 " " 

Pennsylvania 48 " " 

Connecticut 35 " " 

South Carolina 36 " " 

Maryland 17 " " 

Indiana 12 " " 

Massachusetts 11 " " 

Other states 30 " " 

Total 1034 " " 

Virginia was, until recently, the premier 
tobacco state. Tobacco was first raised in 
Virginia about 1619 when the quantity pro- 

42 



duced was about 20,000 lbs. By 1753 the 
records show that over 50 million lbs. were 
raised annually, all of which was exported. At 
this time and until about the period of the 
Civil War, Europe was dependant more than 
now on America for her tobacco supply, as at 
present a considerable part of her needs is sup- 
plied by her own production. Tobacco was not 
grown in Kentucky till about 1785 and a little 
later in Tennessee and Ohio. The cigar leaf 
industry of the New England States did not 
come into activity till about 1830. Cigar leaf 
was raised in Florida about the same time but 
was discontinued and was not resumed till fifty 
years later . 

Virginia, Maryland and Tennessee have 
shown a declining annual production since the 
Civil War. Thus Virginia in 1860 produced 
nearly 30 per cent of the total U. S. crop, 
whereas at present it produces about 12 per 
cent only. The causes which have contributed 
to the decline in tobacco culture in the Southern 
States are the loss of slave labor as well as the 
loss of capital during the war; more particu- 
larly it is due to the impoverishing of the soil 
without adequate fertilization. Thus with 
superior fertilization and intensive methods, 
Massachusetts and Connecticut give 1,750 lbs. 
to the acre, as against 870 and 580 lbs. for 
43 



Kentucky and Tennessee. In Massachusetts 
and Connecticut the cost for fertilizer per farm 
is $227 as against $17 and $4 respectively in 
Tennessee and Kentucky. Moreover, the 
Northern farms are smaller than the Southern. 

Varieties of Tobacco raised 

The varieties of tobacco raised are mainly of 
the native American species ; but in some states 
(in Florida particularly) plants are raised from 
imported Cuban and Sumatran seed, in an en- 
deavor to produce cigar leaf equal in quality to 
the leaf now imported from these places which 
commands a high price in the trade. The rais- 
ing of cigar leaf tobacco from foreign seed 
began in Florida about 1902; and, although on 
the whole, the cultivation has been very success- 
ful, yet it cannot be said that the hoped for 
results have been fully realized. It was claimed 
for the Florida grown Sumatran leaf that in 
many ways it surpassed the native Sumatran 
leaf. Certainly the experimental samples of 
this Florida leaf exhibited by the U. S. at the 
Paris Exposition of 1900 were judged to be 
superior both in appearance and style and other 
matters. However, this superiority does not 
appear to have been upheld, for in the trade 
the native grown Sumatran leaf still holds its 
rank. 

44 



Similarly in the case of Florida grown Cuban 
leaf which at the same Exposition was voted 
as equal to the native. The native leaf, how- 
ever, whether due to the soil or not, has a finer 
flavor and aroma, and the best grades of native 
grown Cuban tobacco still hold the palm as 
the premier cigar tobacco of the world. 

The leaf raised in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, 
Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, Massachusetts, and 
New York State, is generally used for the cigar 
trade (see the chapters on cigars). Ohio and 
Florida (Cuban seed) leaf mostly used as cigar 
fillers; Connecticut and Florida (Sumatran 
seed), Pennsylvania and New York leaf mostly 
as wrapper leaf, the inferior leaves being used 
as fillers. Wisconsin leaf is used principally as 
cigar binder leaf. The total amount of cigar 
tobacco raised is roughly about one-fifth of the 
entire tobacco crop. 

The southern states produce the bulk of the 
export dark, heavy leaf. West Kentucky and 
Tennessee particularly, as well as Virginia, the 
Carolinas and Maryland, export considerable 
quantities. This tobacco is fire-cured. For the 
domestic trade, however, (pipe-smoking, chew- 
ing and cigarettes) the tobacco grown in these 
states is flue-cured, the principal product being 
of a bright yellow color, characteristic of this 
region. 

45 



This "yellow tobacco belt" extends from the 
coast across to the North Carolina Mountains, 
through Tennessee and South Carolina, South- 
ern Virginia, Southern Ohio, a few parts of 
Kentucky, some of Eastern Missouri and Ar- 
kansas. The best soils are those which are of 
a light sandy or sand}^ clay nature and they 
need not be deep or rich. In this region the 
very finest pipe-smoking tobaccos are raised. 
Whilst the U. S. has not been able to produce a 
cigar wrapper tobacco equal in quality to the 
Cuban or Sumatran, in pipe-smoking and cigar- 
ette tobaccos she stands without a rival. 

There are about 100 different varieties of 
tobacco grown in the U. S., many of these being 
approximately the same and are synonymous. 
Subvarieties are easily obtained by crossing. 
Cross-fertilization easily takes place where dif- 
ferent strains are produced in the same locality. 
On this account when it is desired to keep a 
variety pure, care must be exerted to see that 
seed is collected from pure strains. On the 
other hand, the ease of producing new varieties 
gives opportunity to the various State Agri- 
cultural Experimental Stations to try out new 
strains for desirable qualities. The enumera- 
tion of the differences between the various varie- 
ties would be tiresome for the reader, yet it will be 
well for the user of tobacco to know some of these 
46 



varieties, their characteristics and other par- 
ticulars concerning them. These are given here : 

Leading Varieties of American Tobaccos 
BuRLEY. The variety known as White Burley 
has a long broad leaf, whitish in ap- 
pearance when growing. The points of 
the leaf hang down towards the ground 
when growing, often even touching the 
ground. The leaf is thin in texture, 
has a mild flavor, low nicotine content 
and good absorbing qualities. It is one 
of the most popular tobaccos in the 
U. S. and is used for pipe-smoking and 
chewing tobaccos and cigarettes. It 
cures to a bright yellow brown color. 

There is a variety known as Red Bur- 
ley wdiich has a thin leaf narrowing 
from center to top. The leaves are of 
a characteristic cinnamon color and are 
more elastic than those of White Bur- 
ley. Burley tobacco is raised princi- 
pally in Ohio, Kentucky, Virginia, 
Maryland, Missouri and Indiana. 

Connecticut Large, strong leaves, thin and 

Seedleaf. elastic, silky in texture, small 

fibers, sweetish taste and light in color. 

Used in the cigar trade as fillers and 

wrappers and grown in New England, 

47 



Pennsylvania, Ohio, and to a smaller 
extent in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indi- 
ana, Illinois and Florida. 

Connecticut A modification of the above, 
Broadleaf. the leaves being broader in 

proportion to their length. They are 
up to 35 inches long and 22 inches wide. 
Largely used in the cigar trade as filler 
and wrappers. Both the Connecticut 
Seedleaf and Broadleaf are superior to 
the imported Sumatran leaf in flavor 
and aroma, but are inferior in elasticity 
and covering qualities. 

Grown principally in Connecticut 
and New York States. 

Orinoco. There are 3 varieties of this name: 
(1) Short Orinoco. Broad leaf, up- 
right growth and open habit, light 
colored, much ruffled. Grown in Vir- 
ginia and Missouri. (2) Big Orinoco. 
Short, broad leaf. Grown in Virginia, 
Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee 
and West Virginia. (3) Yellow Or- 
inoco. Long, narrow, tapering leaf with 
fine texture. The sweetest variety 
grown. Grown in Virginia, Maryland, 
North Carolina, Tennessee, West Vir- 
ginia and Missouri. 
48 



Orinoco tobacco leaf is used largel;/ 
for plug and smoking tobaccos and for 
the export trade. 

Virginian. Sun and air-cured tobacco. Leaf 
is medium in size. Very bright brown 
color. Is rich in gums and oils which 
makes it sweet and fragrant and gives 
it a pleasant taste. Hence it is a favor- 
ite chewing tobaCco. 

Pryor. There are several varieties under this 
name : ( 1 ) Medley or White Fry or has 
a very broad leaf with silky texture and 
tough fiber. (2) Blue Pryor. Large, 
long fine leaf and good color. (3) Silky 
Pryor. A long sharp-pointed leaf; 
grows thin on the stalk ; very tough and 
pliant. (4) Yellow Pryor. Heavy, 
wide leaf, fine bright color, tough and 
weighs well. 

Pryor is used principally for the ex- 
port trade and to some extent also in 
the home trade both for cigar and plug 
and smoking tobaccos. It is grown 
generally throughout Virginia, North 
Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mis- 
souri and Indiana, the White variety 
being extensively grown in Virginia. 



49 



Little A very favorite pipe-smoking to- 
DuTCH. bacco. It has a small nicotine con- 
tent (less than 1%). The leaf is small; 
narrow, thick and short ; dark brown in 
color, glossy surface and sweet in taste. 
It is grown extensively in the Miami 
Valley of Ohio. 

Sumatra Grown principally in Florida from 
Seed. imported Sumatran seed. The leaf 

is light in weight and color, not long 
compared with other seedleaf varieties. 
Very narrow and with fine ribs. Used 
in cigar trade and grown extensively 
also in the New England states. 

Cuban This has the usual qualities of Cuban 
Seed. tobacco but with inferior fragrance 

and aroma to the native grown. Princi- 
pally raised in Pennsylvania, New 
York, Wisconsin, Connecticut and 
Florida for the cigar trade. 

Perique. a special variety of tobacco grown 
only in a small area of Louisiana. The 
leaf is medium in size, has a fine fiber 
with small stems. Tough, gummy and 
glossy. It is grown in a deep, rich soil 
and grows very rapidly. Its special 
characteristics are acquired in the cur- 
ing, which is a special process peculiar 
50 



to itself, and which will be described in 
the chapter on Manufactured Tobaccos. 

REFERENCES 

Yearbooks of the United States Department of 
Agriculture. 191 4 and previous. 

HoAGLAND, I. G. The Tobacco Industry, In 
Quarterly of the National Fire Protection As- 
sociation. 1907. Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 4. 

Jacobstein, M. The Tobacco Industry in the 
United States. New York, 1907. 

Billings, E. R, Tobacco; its history, varieties, 
culture, manufacture and commerce. Hartford 
Conn., 1875. 



51 



CHAPTER V 

THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE 
TOBACCO PLANT 

Organic and inorganic matters contained in 

Tobacco and the parts they play. 

Analysis of various Tobaccos. 

Nicotine. 



53 



THE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE 
TOBACCO PLANT 

The tobacco plant when subjected to chemi- 
cal analysis is found to contain all or most of 
the following substances : 

Mineral Bases. Potash, Lime, Magnesia, 
Oxides of Iron and Manganese, Ammonia, 
Silica. 
Mineral Acids. Nitric, Hydrochloric, Sul- 
phuric and Phosphoric. 
Organic Base. Nicotine. 
Organic Acids. Malic, Citric, Acetic, Oxalic, 

Pectic and Ulmic. 
Other Organic Substances. Nicotianin, Green 
and Yellow Resin, Wax and Fat, Nitro- 
genous Substances and Cellulose. 
The substances which differentiate tobacco 
from other plants and form its chief character- 
istics are Nicotianin, Nicotine and Malic Acid. 
The percentage in which the important sub- 
stances exist in tobacco is given below: 

Nicotine From 1 to 9% 

Malic and Citric Acids . . . .From 10 to 14% 

Oxalic Acid From 1 to 2% 

Resins, Oils and Fats From 4 to 6% 

Pectic Acid About 5% 

Cellulose From 7 to 8% 

Albumenoids About 25% 

Ash ' From 12 to 30% 

55 



When tobacco is burned, chemical changes 
occur; the organic and other compounds are 
decomposed. The volatile matters pass off in 
the smoke if the combustion is complete, and 
the mineral ash remains. In ordinary pipe or 
other tobacco smoking, however, the combustion 
is not complete and many decomposition pro- 
ducts remain with the mineral ash. 

In tobacco smoke the following can usually 
be found: Furfurol, Marsh Gas, Hydrogen 
Sulphide, Hydrogen Cyanide, Organic Acids, 
Phenols, Empyreumatic Oils, Pyridine, Picoline 
Series and possibly some Nicotine. 

The ash left after complete combustion is 
important, as much of the smoking qualities of 
the tobacco depends on its constituents. An 
average sample gives the following analysis (in 
100 parts) : 

Average mineral contents of tobacco ash 

Potash About 27% 

Soda About 3% 

Lime About 40% 

Magnesia About 9% 

Sodium Chloride About 9% 

Sulphuric Acid About 3% 

Silica About 5% 

Lime Phosphate About 4% 



56 



Remarks on Some of the Substances Found 

IN Tobacco 

Nicotine 

Of all the substances found in tobacco, nico- 
tine is the most important. 

Nicotine in the pure state is a colorless liquid 
having a specific gravity of 1.027. It is an 
organic base having the chemical formula 
Cio Hi4 Ng. It is extremely acid and burning 
to the taste, and is a virulent poison. It easily 
volatilizes; is inflammable, and is soluble in 
water, alcohol, ether and some fixed oils. Nico- 
tine has the characteristic peculiar odor of 
tobacco. 

The amount of nicotine in tobacco is said to 
depend on the nature of the soil in which it is 
grown ; rich, heavy soils and strong nitrogenous 
manuring favor the production of a large nico- 
tine content ; and light, sandy soils the opposite. 

Moreover the nicotine content depends on the 
age and development of the plant. 

An investigation by Chuard and Mellet 
showed nicotine contents of leaves : 
In young plants 7 weeks old contained .0324% 

In plants 10 weeks old contained 0447% 

In plants 13 weeks old contained 4989% 

In plants 19 weeks old contained 9202% 

The longer the plant is permitted to grow the 
larger will be its nicotine content. 
^7 



Schlossing has made a similar investigation 
and found that in the same plant the nicotine 
content varies from 0.79% when young to 
4.32% when fully matured. Most nicotine is 
found in the ribs and veins. 

H. B. Cox (American Druggist V. 24, 1894, 
p. 95) investigated the nicotine contents of 
various manufactured tobaccos. These were 
not "proprietary tobaccos" but samples ob- 
tained from different sources at random. His 
results are given here : 

Nicotine Contents of Different Tobaccos 

Nicotine 

Syrian Tobacco leaf (a) 612% 

American Chewing Leaf 935% 

Syrian Tobacco Leaf (b) 1.093% 

Chinese Tobacco Leaf 1.902% 

Turkish Coarse Cut 2.500% 

Golden Virginia (whole strips) 2.501% 

Gold Flake Virginia 2.501% 

Navy Cut (light) 2.530% 

Light Kentuckian 2.733% 

Navy Cut (dark) 3.64 % 

Best "Bird's Eye" 3.931% 

Cut Cavendish (a) 4.212% 

Best Shag (a) 4.907% 

Cut Cavandish (b) 4.970% 

Best Shag (b) 5.00 % 

58 



Algerian Tobacco (a) 8.813% 

French Grown Tobacco 8.711% 

Algerian Tobacco (b) 8.90 % 

The average of a number of samples of 
Syrian tobacco showed 1 to 2% nicotine. 
Manila and Havana 1 to 3%, Virginia and Ken- 
tucky from 2 to 7%, and French tobaccos about 
9%. 

Most of the nicotine in tobacco becomes 
volatilized and decomposed during combustion; 
a small part, however, may form a solution with 
the water which is also one of the combustion 
products. One of the decomposition products 
of nicotine is 

Pyridine 

Pyridine is usually found in tobacco smoke. 
When condensed it is a colorless non-oily liquid 
and is considerably less toxic than nicotine. 

Reference will be made later on to the effects 
of nicotine and pyridine on the human system. 

Potash 
Potash is important as on its amount depends 
the burning qualities of the tobacco. It is 
sometimes present in the ash to the extent of 
30%, being converted into potassium carbonate 
by burning. Not only for free burning is the 
potash valuable, but also for the better volatili- 
zation of the nicotine and other substances. 
59 



The more perfect the combustion, the fewer 
deleterious compounds are formed. 

Chlorides, if present, retard the burning of 
the tobacco, and hence a tobacco which contains 
a high percentage of chloride, even if it is rich 
in potash salts, is a poor burning tobacco and 
therefore faulty. While it is important that 
the burning should be free and the volatilization 
as perfect as possible, yet the smoker does not 
want his tobacco to burn too rapidly. To meet 
this some manufacturers prepare "slow burn- 
ing" tobaccos generally by the addition of some 
chemical which checks the potash. 

The aroma and flavor of the tobacco depend 
to a great extent on the waxes, resins and oils, 
as well as on certain of the organic acids. 

REFERENCES 
U. S. Dispensatory. 1907 (19th Edition). 
KissLiNG. The Chemistry of Tobacco. Scientific 

American (Supp.) 1905, Vol. 60, No. 1560. 
Chuard & Mellett. Variation de Nicotine dans 

les differents organes de la plante de Tahac. 

Comp. Rend. Acad. d. So. (Paris) 1912. Vol. 

155, p. 293. 
Pezzolato, a. Conferenza Sulla Chimica appli- 

cato alia technologia del Tabacco. (Rome. 1903.) 
Wolf, Jacob. Der Tabak und die Tabah fabri- 

hate. Chapter III. Leipzig, 1912. 
ScHLOSSiNG. Sur la production de la nicotine par 

la culture du Tabac. Compt. Rend. Acad. d. 
Sc. (Paris), 1910. Vol. 151, p. 23. 



CHAPTER VI 

THE CURING OF TOBACCO LEAF 

Objects of curing. Methods. 



61 



THE CURING OF TOBACCO LEAF 

The "curing" of tobacco leaf is the process 
of drying out which has for its object the fol- 
lowing specific actions : 

(1) The expelling of the sap and superfluous 

moisture. 

(2) The completion of the "yellowing" pro- 

cess and the fixing of the desired 
color. 

(3) The preservation of the juices, etc., 

which give the characteristic flavor 
and aroma. 

(4) To give the necessary toughness and 

suppleness to the leaf. 

The first part of the curing is done by the 
grower in curing sheds on the farm immediately 
after the cutting of the crop ; the final part, or 
the fermentation part is usually done by the 
leaf dealer or manufacturer in special buildings 
called leaf-houses. 

There are three methods of curing in use 
by the growers, i. e., sun curing, air curing, and 
artificial heat curing. In the case of the 
tobacco known as Perique the curing process is 
more or less peculiar to itself. "Sun" and 
"air" curing are much slower processes than 
the curing by artificial heat. 

63 



All cigar leaf tobacco is sun-cured, and as a 
general rule pipe smoking and chewing tobacco 
are cured by artificial heat. 

For the purpose of drying and curing by 
artificial heat, the leaf is hung up in specially 
constructed curing houses or sheds. It is found 
that after the exposure to the sun for the first 
process of "yellowing" tobacco leaf still con- 
tains 1 lb. of water approximately in each 
plant. The first part of the process of curing 
consists in drawing off this superfluous mois- 
ture. Dry heat is applied at a temperature of 
90° F. to 120° F. for about 16 to 30 hours to 
effect this. A further exposure of about 48 
hours at a temperature of 125° or so is neces- 
sary to complete the curing, and fix the color. 

The stems and stalks being thicker take a 
longer time and generally require 9 to 10 hours 
further exposure and a temperature which may 
range as high as 175° F. before they are fully 
cured, the temperature being graded hourly 
until the maximum necessary is reached. 

The process of curing varies considerably in 
different states. Some growers prefer to put 
the tobacco into the sheds immediately after 
cutting, and allow very little exposure in the 
fields. The temperature is usually kept 
steady at about 90° F. Again the process is 
different according to the quality of tobacco 

64 



required. For the heavy type of leaf which is 
intended for the export trade, the curing in the 
sheds is done by an open fire, the fuel being 
usually hardwood logs. The smoky, creosotic 
flavor is absorbed by the leaf, and, although 
this flavor is not relished by the smokers of the 
U. S., it is much liked in Europe. The curing 
in such cases may last for 4 or even 5 five days. 
The tobacco is suspended on poles by the stalks 
and the fires are built on the floor immediately 
under them so that the carbonaceous products 
are easily absorbed by the open pores of the 
leaf. 

The chewing and pipe smoking tobacco, as 
well as cigarette tobaccos including all the 
bright yellow tobaccos used in the U. S. are 
usually cured by Flue curing. In this case 
the heat comes from pipes which run around the 
curing houses and are fed from a furnace in an 
adjoining chamber or in a cellar. The tempera- 
ture can be easily regulated. "Flue" curing is 
generally completed in about 4 days. "Flue" 
curing does not clog up the pores of the leaf 
which therefore remain more absorbent than in 
the open fire cured tobacco. This is an import- 
ant matter for the manufacturers because the 
flue cured leaf will absorb twice as much of the 
flavoring sauces (which are added to certain 



es 



kinds of tobacco) than tabacco leaf cured by 
open fires. 

Air exposure of 6 to 8 weeks (sometimes ex- 
tended to 3 or 4 months) is necessary when 
tobacco is cured by exposure to the sun and 
air. It is claimed, however, that this method of 
curing preserves far better the natural flavor 
of the leaf; and, where flavor and aroma are 
highly important, this method is always pre- 
ferred. Hence all cigar leaf tobaccos are cured 
by exposure to natural sunlight and not by 
artificial heat. 

"Air" curing as distinct from sun curing is 
generally done in open sheds which are thor- 
oughly ventilated and kept as far as possible 
at a temperature of about 75° F. The leaf is 
usually allowed to cure while attached to the 
stalk, but Florida curers generally prefer to 
strip the leaf and treat it separately. The 
finer classes of pipe smoking tobaccos are air 
cured. 

After the curing is completed the color of 
the leaf is usually fixed. Generally speaking, 
the riper the leaf the lighter will be its color 
when cured. Thus the bottom leaves of the 
plant will be lighter in color than the upper 
leaves because they are more mature. 

(For references see end of Chapter VIII) 



66 



CHAPTER VII 

THE MARKETING AND SALE OF 
TOBACCO LEAE 

Methods of disposal by the grower. The 

Warehouse system. Direct purchase. 

Principal markets in the United 

States. Prices. 



67 



THE MARKETING AND SALE OF 
TOBACCO LEAF 

When the tobacco leaf is fully cured it is at 
once prepared for the market. The first step 
is the planters' classification of the leaf. In 
the case of pipe smoking and chewing tobacco 
the planter collects all the imperfect, injured 
leaves, or those inferior from any cause, and 
ties them in bundles. These are the planters 
lugs. All other grades are leaf. Slightly in- 
jured leaves are classed as low-leaf or seconds. 
The others are classed medium, good, fine and 
selected leaf, according to grade, color, qual- 
ity, etc. 

In the case of cigar leaf tobacco a similar 
classification is made, more care being taken 
owing to the very great difference in price be- 
tween the better and poorer qualities. This 
difference may be as much as 20c in the lb., the 
finer and more suitable leaf being eagerly 
sought for. 

Pipe smoking and chewing tobacco leaf is 
usually packed in hogsheads or cases each 
weighing from 1,000 to 1,400 lbs. The opera- 
tion of packing the leaf is called "prizing." 
Cigar leaf is usually put up in "hands." A 
"hand" consists of from 25 to 75 leaves tied 
together. Four hands tied together make a 

69 



"carrot" and 80 carrots go to the bale, but the 
size of the bale varies considerably. The to- 
bacco is then ready for the buyer. 

There are two systems of disposing of the 
planters' product: (1) direct purchase by the 
manufacturer or by a middleman from the 
grower; and (2) what is known as the ware- 
house system. In the southern states the ware- 
house system prevails. Every important to- 
bacco section in the south has its public ware- 
house which is under the control and super- 
vision of state law. Many of these warehouses 
are long established, that at Richmond, Va., 
dating as far back as 1730, and those at Louis- 
ville and Clarksville about 1839. 

On appointed days the planter brings his 
leaf to the warehouse. Here it is entered as 
"loose leaf" or "inspected leaf." In the case 
of loose leaf, the tobacco is open to the inspec- 
tion of prospective buyers, who examine it and 
afterwards bid on it. In the case of "inspected 
leaf" the warehouse officials first examine the 
consignments, grade them and mark them ac- 
cording to their judgment, taking samples. 
The samples are open to buyers' inspection and 
form the basis of sale. Tobacco auctions are 
regularly held when the buyers assemble and 
bid on the "loose leaf" and "inspected" lots. 

70 



Prices of the various grades are fixed and sales 
take place at the day's price. 

The principal tobacco markets are : 

For Kentucky and Tennessee — At Louis- 
ville, Clarksville and Cincinnati. 

For Maryland and Ohio — At Baltimore. 

For North Carolina — At Durham and Wins- 
ton. 

For Virginia — At Richmond. 

The warehouse system has the great ad- 
vantage that the proceedings are open and the 
prices are recorded and published. Hence 
growers can know how the market fluctuates 
and judge the best time for sale. This is not 
the case when the sale is private between the 
buyer and seller as is customary in the eastern 
and northern states. Here the price actually 
received by the grower is often different from 
that given out as paid. 

The price of tobacco leaf has had many 
vicissitudes during the past 25 years, the price 
often having reached so low a point as to dis- 
courage producers. Thus at Winston, N. C, 
the price has gradually fallen from 12.3c per 
lb. in 1889 to 6.3c in 1896. In the same period 
Burley leaf at Louisville and Cincinnati fell 
from 10c to 7%c. Prices similarly dropped 
in other centers. The price of cigar leaf has 
latterly increased. In 1900 prices ran from 

71 



6 to 15 cents; in 1905 from 8 to 17 cents. 
Many conditions at home and abroad affect the 
price, such as bad harvests or inferior grades 
of produce. 

The tobacco trust has been very unjustly 
blamed by many for the falling price of tobacco. 
As a matter of fact and record, however, the 
concentration of buying power by eliminating 
the middleman and the small dealers has not 
only placed the grower in a better position by 
giving him a better price, as recent records 
show, but it has benefited the consumer also 
who can obtain the superior grades at a lower 
price. It is the middleman's profit that has 
been cut. Moreover, the concentrated buying 
power of the large interests here has been an 
effective force in keeping up tobacco leaf prices 
against the foreign buyers. It must be re- 
membered that about half of our crop is ex- 
ported. The buyers of this portion, who are 
principally the agents of foreign governments 
(in the cases where tobacco is a government 
monopoly as in France, Italy, etc.) assemble 
at the auctions and bid in the usual way. As 
this competition is very limited there is always 
an opportunity for such buyers to agree among 
themselves as to the limit of prices. This has 
been one of the important factors which has 
kept the prices of tobacco leaf down. The con- 

72 



centration of American buying power has, how- 
ever, been a formidable check on it, the prices 
received by the growers being now fair and 
reasonable, and such as are the result of a 
healthy market, where the factors of supply 
and demand have their full share of effect. 

The government statistics show that for 1914 
the prices of leaf varied from 5.5c to 20c for 
common to good varieties. 

(For references see end of Chapter VIII) 



73 



CHAPTER VIII 

REHANDLING AND FERMENTATION 

OF TOBACCO LEAF PRIOR TO 

MANUFACTURE 

Selection of leaf. Treatment and Blend- 
ing. Objects and methods of Fer- 
mentation. Action of microbes. 



75 



REHANDLING AND FERMENTATION 

OF TOBACCO LEAF PRIOR TO 

MANUFACTURE 

We have seen how the tobacco passes from 
the grower to the manufacturer or leaf dealer. 
Before it is fitted, however, for manufacture 
into cigars or other finished products the leaf 
must go through many processes, the most im- 
portant of which is fermentation. These pro- 
cesses, which are usually known as rehandling, 
are carried out in special buildings which are 
called leaf houses and stemmeries. The pro- 
cedures in different leaf houses may vary some- 
what, but the general principles and objects in 
view are the same in all. Moreover, the treat- 
ment is different, according to the ulterior dis- 
position of the leaf, i. e. whether intended for 
cigars, pipe smoking or other product. 

The general treatment as carried out in large 
establishments is about as follows : 

The leaf as soon as it is received whether in 
casks, cases, bales, or otherwise is opened up 
and inspected in the casing room. Large con- 
cerns which manufacture or deal in cigar and 
other kinds of leaf, sort out the different kinds 
suitable for each class of product, i. e. wrap- 
pers, fillers, binders, cigarette leaf, plug leaf, 

77 



etc. These are distributed to either special 
houses or departments. The tobacco leaf when 
first received is usually dry and brittle. The 
bundles are carefully opened up and the leaves 
loosened and spread out on large trucks where 
they are sprayed with water. When the leaf 
has soaked the water and is pliable it undergoes 
a sorting which is done by selecting leaves from 
different cases or even bundles of leaves and in 
a general way arranging them so that each 
truckfull represents a blend of the different 
kinds of leaf which are suitable for the purpose 
in view. These sorted packages are then rough- 
ly fastened together and after being again 
sprinkled thoroughly are sent to the "sweating" 
room to undergo fermentation which may last 
several weeks. The temperature of this room 
must be carefully regulated and is usually kept 
at about 90° F. 

The selection and blending of the different 
kinds of leaf is most important. It requires 
accurate and expert knowledge in choosing 
leaves and kinds possessing different strengths 
and other qualities and in combining them in 
such proportions that the final effect of the 
blend gives just what is required. 

It is particularly in this expert treatment of 
the leaf before manufacture that the greatest 
advance has been made in the tobacco industry. 

78 



The smoker has the advantage and satisfaction 
of knowing that not only does he get the benefit 
of improved scientific knowledge and sanitary 
conditions by which anything that might be 
harmful or undesirable is removed, but that 
handling the leaf in large quantities effects 
great economics and procures for him the bene- 
fit of choicest selected grades at a reduced cost. 

It may be said here incidentally that leaves 
of the very best tobaccos which are defective 
merely in size, or color, etc., are put through 
exactly the same processes as the choicer 
quality leaves, and are used in the manufacture 
of the popular priced machine-made "little 
cigars" and "cheroots." 

It will be necessary now to digress for a 
short time and consider what happens during 
the process of fermentation. 

Fermentation of Tobacco 
The fermenting of tobacco leaf has for its 
principal objects, (1) the removal of acrid 
matters, (2) the fixing of the color, and (3) 
the production of flavor. Fermentation can 
only take place under suitable conditions of heat 
and moisture, and is essentially a chemical pro- 
cess during which certain organic compounds 
stored in the plant are split up* and others 
formed. 

79 



A certain amount of fermentation takes place 
in the curing houses during the "3^ellowing" of 
the leaf after it has been harvested, but as we 
have seen the main process of fermentation does 
not occur until it is "rehandled" by the manu- 
facturers. 

The general opinion held at present as the 
result of investigation is that the transforma- 
tions which are effected in the leaf are purely 
the result of chemical processes. As the plant 
slowly dies and decomposes special ferments 
are produced. These ferments set up an oxi- 
dization process which splits up the complex 
organic compounds which still exist in the leaf 
cells. The starch in the plant is changed into 
sugar which is slowly consumed. There is a de- 
crease in the fats and gummy substances, also 
in nicotine and nitrogenous compounds, and 
there is a formation of certain organic acids 
such as malic, citric and oxalic which are 
essential in the production of flavor. Briefly it 
may be said that the process is an attempt by 
the plant to prolong its existence by feeding on 
its own substance, by drawing on its own re- 
serves and on its own structure for the food 
which its cells no longer receive through the 
natural growing process. When the struggle 
is over the "fermentation" is complete. The 
necessity for maturing tobacco has long been 

80 



known but the exact nature of the changes that 
take place during the process were not under- 
stood. Since the discoveries of Louis Pasteur 
regarding the part played by bacteria in gen- 
eral fermentative processes it has been generally 
claimed by bacteriologists that the changes 
wrought in the leaf and the production of flavor 
are solely the work of bacteria. Although this 
view has not been proved it has never been 
fully disproved, and there appears to be no 
doubt that the microbes known to exist in the 
leaf during the fermentation process play an 
important part in the process. Fermentation 
can only take place as stated under suitable 
conditions of heat and moisture and these are 
the conditions which favor the development of 
microbes and enable them to work. The results 
obtained are probably partially due to chemical 
action and partly to bacterial action, the two 
being complementary to each other. 

In 1899 Suchsland, a German scientist, 
startled the tobacco world by asserting that 
the flavor of tobacco was in no way due to the 
effects of the soil and climate where it was 
grown, but was solely due to microbic action, 
and that the specific flavor and aroma of any 
given tobacco could be artificially produced by 
the cultivation of selected bacteria and allowing 
the tobacco to cure and ferment under their ac- 

81 



tion. He conducted a series of experimental 
investigations in which he searched for and iso- 
lated the specific microbes found in the best 
West Indian tobacco. From these he made 
artificial cultures and introduced them into 
heaps of inferior, coarse German tobacco which 
was undergoing curing. His results were such 
that the smoking quality of the leaf was entirely 
changed. It could scarcely be distinguished 
from the best Cuban tobacco and experts and 
connoisseurs failed to identify the product as 
German tobacco. A company was formed to 
exploit the new ideas commercially, but it does 
not appear to have met with success. Other 
investigations failed to obtain Suchsland's re- 
sults and extensive investigation in the Agri- 
cultural Experimental Station in the United 
States have not up to now produced any results 
confirmatory of the theory. 

We can now proceed to follow the course of 
the tobacco in its peregrinations through the 
leaf house. 

On their return from the first fermentation 
the bundles go to the picking department. 
Leaves which are damaged or unsuitable in any 
way are here picked out and put aside to be used 
in the cheaper grades. The leaves are then sub- 
jected to a thorough cleaning to remove 
particles of sand, clay, etc., packed tightly in 

82 



bundles and returned to the sweating depart- 
ment to undergo further fermentation and to 
allow for a thorough interchange of the aroma 
of the different blends. In due course the 
bundles pass to the stemming department for 
the removal of the midribs which usually form 
nearly one-third of the entire weight. The re- 
sulting half leaves are then arranged in piles 
of 50, each pile forming a "book." 

From the stemming department the books 
pass to the drying room where any superfluous 
moisture is removed by hot air currents. 

From the drying room the books pass to the 
ordering room where they undergo inspection 
for color, size etc., and subjected to further 
treatment if necessary. Here they are finally 
packed in cases and stored for several months 
to allow perfect and uniform blending after 
which they are ready for shipment to the fac- 
tory. Filler leaf for the finest cigars may 
stand in these cases for two or three years. 

Leaf which is intended for chewing or pipe 
smoking is not subjected to so great an elabora- 
tion of processes as cigar leaf, as the matters 
of uniformity of color, and delicacy as well as 
individuality of aroma are not of such great 
importance. Usually such tobacco leaf is fer- 
mented in bulk, and the removal of the stems 
is done before the principal fermentation. 

83 



After the preliminary selection of varieties, 
sorting, stemming and cleaning, the leaf is 
dipped into large vats containing flavors ; and 
after drying are subjected to steaming. They 
are then packed away in bulk in the sweating 
department where they slowly ferment until 
required for use. These "bulks" or stacks may 
contain many tons of leaf. They require con- 
stant turning over, etc. Indeed it may be said 
that every step in these processes requires con- 
stant care. Temperature, moisture, length of 
exposure, etc., must all be carefully seen to. 
Otherwise the tobacco will spoil. 

In the case of tobacco leaf intended for ex- 
port trade rehandling consists mainly of stem- 
ming and removal of moisture. This is done 
before shipment in order to reduce the weight 
as customs duty is levied in accordance with 
the weight of the imported packages in the 
countries importing. 

REFERENCES 

U. S. Depart, of Agric. Farmers' Bulletins 6 and 
60. 

Laureut, L. Le Tahac, sa culture et sa prepara- 
tion, production et consommation. Paris, 1900. 

BouANT, E. Le Tahac; culture et Industrie. Paris, 
1901. 



84 



BoEKHouT UND DE Vries. Uber T abac fermenta- 
tion. "Centralbl. f. Bakter/' 1909- 2 Abteil. 
Vol. 24, p. 4>96. 

LoEW, O. Sind Bahterien die Ursache der Tabak- 
fermentation? "Centralbl. f. Bakter/' 1909- 
Vol. 6, p. 108. 

KiLLEBREW AND Myrick. Tobacco Leaf. Part I. 
New York, 1897. 

SucHSLANL, E. Bobachtungen uber die Selbster- 
rvdrmung des fermentierenden Tabahs. In 
"Festschrift 200-Jahr Jubel. d. Verein. Fried- 
richs Universit." Halle- Wittenberg, 1894;. 

Wolf, Jakob. Der Tabah und die Tabahfabri- 
kate. Chapter IV. Leipzig, 1912. 

HoAGLAND, J. G. The Tobacco Industry. In 
Quarterly of the Nat. Fire Protec. Assn., 1907. 
Vol. 1, Nos. 2 and 4. 

Jacobstein, M. The Tobacco Industry in the 
U. S. Chapter II. New York, 1907. 



85 



CHAPTER IX 

MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS OF TO- 
BACCO IN THE UNITED STATES 

Statistics of production and consumption. 
Amount of capital invested, etc. 



87 



MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS OF TO- 
BACCO. GENERAL REMARKS 

The importance and magnitude of the to- 
bacco manufacturing industry in the United 
States will be best understood from a considera- 
tion of the following statistics taken from the 
latest available government records : 

(For all Manufactured Products) 
Cost of materials used. . (1905)=$126,000,000 

(1909)= 177,000,000 
Value of the product. . . (1905)= 331,000,000 

(1909)= 417,000,000 
No. of establishments. .(1905)= 16,828 

(1909)= 15,822 
No. of persons em- 
ployed, more than 
one-third being wo- 
men (1905)= 160,000 

(1909)= 197,000 

The figures are given in round numbers. The 
total capital invested in this industry is be- 
tween $300,000,000 and $400,000,000. 

There are more than one and a quarter mil- 
lions acres in the U. S. under cultivation of 
tobacco which yields a crop at present approxi- 
mating to 1,000 million lbs. of leaf annually. 

The industry shows an absolutely increasing 
condition in every particular at each census. 

89 



During the past 45 years the value of the pro- 
duct has increased more than $300,000,000. 

In addition to the trade in manufacturing in 
the U. S. there is the export trade principally 
in unmanufactured leaf. This amounts at 
present to about $54,000,000 annually. The 
price of export leaf has been continuously in- 
creasing despite of the fact that the produc- 
tion of leaf abroad is increasing. Thus in 1886 
the average export price of leaf from the U. S. 
was 8%c per lb. In 1914 it was more than 12c. 

The following statement shows at a glance 
the marvelous increase in the tobacco industry : 

Comparative Statement of Manufactured To- 
bacco in the U. S. (all products) 

Capital No. of persons Value of 

invested. employed. product. 

Year 1880 $ 39,000,000 86,000 $126,000,000 

Year 1890 90,000,000 117,000 195,000,000 

Year 1900 111,000,000 142,000 264,000,000 

Year 1905 324,000,000 159,000 330,000,000 

Year 1909 197,000 417,000.000 

In addition to the number of persons em- 
ployed in manufacturing we must take into ac- 
count those employed (as well as the capital 
invested) in the agricultural and distributing 
ends. 

The export manufacturing trade is not im- 
portant, being only valued at about 3 million 
dollars annually. 

90 



The value of the home manufactured pro- 
ducts which in 1905 was shown at $330,000,000 
is distributed as follows. 

Cigars $198,000,000 

Cigarettes 16,000,000 

Chewing and smoking tobaccos . . 109,000,000 

Snuff 6,000,000 

Other products 1,000,000 

Total $330,000,000 

For the increase in the present value of the 

product these figures would be proportionately 

increased. 

In the year 1913 the United States exported 

about 350 million lbs. of unmanufactured to- 
bacco leaf, and in 1914, 449 million lbs. This 

was distributed as follows : 

To Great Britain and Ireland 174 million 

To Canada 17 

To France 55 

To Germany 32 

To Italy 45 

To Netherlands 28 

To Spain 17 

To Japan 16 

To China 11 

To Belgium 11 

To Africa, Australia, etc 43 

Total 449 



lbs. 



91 



The largest export manufacturing trade was 
to Asia, the cigarettes exported there having a 
value of 21/2 million dollars. 

The consumption of manufacturing products 
of tobacco in the U. S. has increased continu- 
ously since 1863 when it was 1.6 lbs. per head to 
the present time when it is 51/2 lbs. per head of 
the total population. This works out at about 
16 lbs. per head for each male over 16 years. 
The consumption of tobacco in the U. S. is high- 
er than in any other country and has increased 
more rapidly. For the past 40 years the con- 
sumption per head in U. S. has increased 240% ; 
in England 56% ; in France 24% ; in Germany 
23%. From this fact different deductions 
might be made. It may be that the Americans 
smoke more because they are fonder of tobacco 
than Europeans ; or because they get better 
and cheaper tobacco ; or because they can bet- 
ter afford to buy tobacco. The greatest per- 
centage of increase in the United States is in 
the consumption of cigars. 

The manufactured products are classed as 
(1) cigars, (2) pipe smoking and chewing to- 
baccos, (3) cigarettes, (4) snuff. To each of 
these separate chapters will be devoted. 
(For references see Chapter XV) 



92 



CHAPTER X 

CIGARS. HISTORICAL AND GENERAL 
FACTS 

History. Statistical information regard- 
ing THE CIGAR BUSINESS IN THE 

United States 



9S 



CIGARS. HISTORICAL AND GENERAL 
FACTS 

When the Spaniards landed for the first time 
on American soil they found the natives smok- 
ing the rolled-up tobacco leaves, that is a cigar. 
For a cigar is nothing more, four centuries 
having made little change in the Cuban cigar. 
The word cigar is most probably derived from 
the Spanish word cigar er — to roll. Other deri- 
vations are given, but this seems etymologically 
the correct one; and we will rest content with 
it. In Spanish America to the present day the 
custom of smoking tobacco in the rolled form, 
either as cigars or cigarettes, prevails, rather 
than the custom of smoking in pipes which was 
the method of the northern aborigines from 
whom the English colonists adopted it. Smok- 
ing was introduced into Spain in the cigar form 
and into England in the pipe form. Cigars, 
however, at the present time, both in North and 
South America, form the principal item in the 
tobacco account of the people; we shall there- 
fore enter somewhat fully into matters con- 
cerning their manufacture, etc. 

Although, as stated, it is in the cigar form 
that smoking was introduced into Spain, it was 
not till about 1790 that cigars were used 
generally in Europe. A factory for the manu- 

95 



facture of cigars was established at Hamburg 
in 1796. The custom did not spread rapidly 
and did not reach any considerable proportion 
in England till about 1830 when the high duties 
were considerably reduced. 

Cigar making has always been a staple in- 
dustry in Cuba. It was there when the Euro- 
peans landed and it is there still. Its record is 
unbroken. There was always a greater or lesser 
exportation to Europe and elsewhere. 

The cigar business of the U. S. 

Of the various manufactured products of 
tobacco leaf, the cigar trade is the most im- 
portant in the U. S., its value being greater 
than that of all other tobacco products com- 
bined. 

The magnitude of this branch of the tobacco 
business may be gauged when we state that at 
the present time there are made annually in 
the U. S. cigars of all kinds to the amount of 
about 8% billions. The Census Bureau Report 
for 1912 shows that for that year the number 
of full-sized cigars made and on which tax was 
paid was in round numbers 7,500,000,000, and 
of "little cigars," that is under the regular size, 
about 1,000,000,000. These figures are cer- 
tainly stupendous, particularly when we con- 
sider that, in addition, at least several hundred 

96 



more were imported and that only about 
2,000,000 were exported. Uncle Sam evidently 
likes to smoke cigars. 

To make these cigars requires a consumption 
of 136 million lbs. of cigar leaf. Nearly 50 
million lbs. of this is imported at a gross cost 
(exclusive of duties) of about 35 million dol- 
lars, the rest of the leaf is home grown. The 
principal imports are from Cuba. In 1912 we 
imported cigar leaf from Cuba in amount nearly 
23 million lbs. and in 1913 this increased to 
over 27 million lbs. valued at more than 16 
million dollars. The imports of East Indian 
(Sumatran) leaf varies from 6 to 8 million lbs. 
and costs from 7 to 8 million dollars. 

Although the amount of imported leaf used 
in cigar making shows a steady increase, being 
now more than 50% greater than a decade ago, 
yet the proportion of foreign leaf to home- 
grown leaf in the whole manufacture shows a 
steady decrease. This speaks well for the im- 
proving quality of American grown leaf. 

There are in the United States about 26,000 
cigar factories, both large and small. The large 
number of establishments is due to the fact that 
cigar making is still to a large extent a hand- 
making industry. About 135,000 persons arc- 
directly employed in the manufacture, nearly 
half of whom are women. The capital engaged 

97 



in the business is reported as 150 millions and 
the value of the product 200 million dollars 
annually. The actual consumer pays about 300 
million dollars for the cigars smoked, the dif- 
ference between the cost of the product and the 
latter figure being the expense and profit of the 
retail handlers. The enormous growth of the 
cigar trade is seen when it is compared with 
1860. In that year the annual value of this 
product was only 9 million dollars. The two 
states of New York and Pennsylvania are the 
centers of cigar manufacture. Between them 
they make nearly half of the entire product, 
Pennsylvania leading with about two thousand 
million cigars annually. Florida makes about 
300 million. The price paid by the consumer 
works out to an average of about 4c for each 
cigar. 



9S 



CHAPTER XI 

CIGAR MAKING 

Hand-made, cigars. Machine-made cigars. 

Classification of cigars. Terms used 

in the cigar trade 



99 



CIGAR MAKING 

It was inevitable that modern progress should 
invade and revolutionize the old and slow 
methods of cigar making ; and so it has. Smok- 
ing is a sentimental occupation and lends itself 
easily to romantic associations. A good deal 
of romance and sentiment still hangs around the 
hand-made cigar and cigarette. In an up-to- 
date cigar factory, however, the whir of ma- 
chinery and the precise, regular movements of 
automatic contrivances give little scope for 
sentiment. 

Up to 1870 cigars were hand-made. All that 
was necessary was an inexpensive board, a cut- 
ting knife, and a block of wood with a station- 
ary knife, known as a "tuck," for measuring and 
cutting the finished cigar. 

About the time stated the "mold" was intro- 
duced. The mold is a wooden block about 
18" X 6" X 3", a tool which facilitates the shap- 
ing of the "bunch" or filler part of the cigar 
and presses it into shape. This mold is now 
used in most "hand-made" cigar factories where 
the labor is subdivided into "bunch-makers" 
and "rollers," the latter putting on the binder 
and wrapper and finishing the cigar. 

It is the introduction of practically auto- 
matic machinery, however, which is revolutioniz- 

101 



ing the cigar-making business, and slowly but 
surely driving the "hand-made" cigar into the 
position occupied by the "hand-made" cigar- 
ette. And the writer cannot see why this should 
not be so. As it has been said, there is much 
sentiment about hand-made cigars. But com- 
mon sense seems to be on the side of the ma- 
chine. We quite understand the difficulty of 
killing old prejudices and time honored cus- 
toms ; but it is difficult to understand how the 
flavor or quality of a cigar filler can be different 
whether it is pressed into the shape by a ma- 
chine or by the hand of a workman; or what 
the precise improvement is when a wrapper leaf 
is put on and licked by a workman rather than 
by a clean machine under perfect sanitary con- 
ditions. However, sentiment still persists. Im- 
aginary, or perhaps real, charms are ascribed 
to the hand-made goods and the smoker is will- 
ing and even wishful to pay a higher price for 
his fancy. The result is that the small factory 
is still predominant. It depends more on labor 
than on capital. But the large factories have an 
immense production. The condition will be 
best shown by stating that in less than 1 per 
cent of the cigar making establishments of the 
U. S. nearly 50 per cent of the entire output 
is made, or, putting it another way, nearly 
three-fourths of all the licensed cigar factories 

102 



produced less than one-tenth of the product. 
Of the 26,000 establishments in the U. S. only 
in 2 is the annual output more than 50 million 
and in 27 the output runs from 25 to 50 mil- 
lion. Pennsylvania establishments, principally 
in Philadelphia, produce 28% of the entire 
U. S. cigar output ; New York State, principal- 
ly New York City, comes next with about 20% ; 
and Ohio, principally Cincinnati, third with 
about 8%. 

For machine-made goods the principal ma- 
chines used are the bunch rollers and the suc- 
tion table. The former rolls the bunch of filler 
leaves and presses them into shape. The suc- 
tion table is used for wrapping the cigar. The 
operator places the wrapper leaf on a per- 
forated plate. By pressing a foot lever a 
vacuum is created beneath this plate which 
holds the leaf smooth and snug against the 
table. The perforated plate is exactly the 
form which the wrapper must be to properly 
fit the cigar. It is easily cut around and 
trimmed to shape. The bunch from the bunch 
roller is then quickly encased in the wrapper. 
Human labor is necessary only to feed the ma- 
chines and to spread the wrappers. 25,000 
bunches can easily be wrapped in. a week at a 
cost of $6 to $9 for labor (principally female) 
and the upkeep of the machine. This in labor 

103 / 



alone would formerly cost as much as $75.00. 
In the smaller "hand-made" factories, the 
method of procedure is about as follows : The 
leaf on receipt is opened and moistened. The 
"filler" leaf is separated from the wrapper. The 
filler leaf is made up into "books," a "book" 
being a bunch of leaves suitable for one cigar. 
The loose books are then allowed to ferment 
for a week or so when they are ready for use. 
The bunchmaker selects and arranges his leaves 
from each book, selects his binder and rolls the 
whole into cigar form. If a mold is used he 
puts the bunch in a matrix of the mold and 
fastens down the cover until the leaves are 
pressed into shape. They then go to the wrap- 
per man and are wrapped either by machine or 
by hand, according to the class of goods. The 
wrapping is begun at the lighting end and 
finished at the point which is called the head. 
After trimming to gauge, the cigar is ready for 
inspection and classification according to color, 
etc., and for banding. 

Cigars according to their manufacture are 
classed for trade purposes in various ways. 
The trade nomenclature embraces the following 
descriptions : Cigars, little cigars, all-tobacco 
cigars, stogies and cheroots. 



104 



Cigars proper have many subdivisions: 

(1) Imported Cigars. This term is usually 

confined to cigars made in Cuba, and 
does not include Porto Rican or Philip- 
pines. 

(2) Porto Rico Cigars.) Used for cigars made 

(3) Philippine Cigars, j in those places. 

(4) Clear Ha van as. This term denotes a 

cigar made by hand in the U. S. of 
Cuban tobacco exclusively and in the 
same style as in Cuba. 

(5) Seed and Havana. Up to about 50 years 

ago there were no clear Havanas made 
in the U. S., the best produced being 
a combination of Havana leaf and leaf 
grown in the states from imported 
Havana seed. Hence the term which 
ordinarily means an American made 
cigar, the filler being wholly or partly 
of Cuban tobacco and the wrapper, a 
domestic or Sumatran leaf. 

(6) Domestic Cigars. This term is used for 

cigars made in the U. S. in contra-dis- 
tinction to imported cigars. 

(7) Nickel Goods. Ordinary 5c cigars made 

either entirely , of domestic tobacco or 
with a Sumatran wrapper, and usually 
made partly or wholly by machine. It 
also usually includes "segundos" or 

105 



"seconds," i. e., cigars of a better type 
made to sell at higher prices but which 
on account of some defect are rejected 
on inspection. Sometimes clear Havanas 
made of scrap filler and inferior wrap- 
per are included. These cigars have a 
vast variety of designations and make 
up the general stock of most cigar 
stores. The cost of production does not 
usually exceed $20.00 per thousand and 
they sell to dealers at from $25.00 to 
$30.00 
(8) Stogies, Tobies, Etc. Cheroots. Cigar 
shaped rolls of cheap domestic tobacco 
made quickly by machine, and of various 
sizes. Cheroots are open at both ends. 
The filler of stogies is usually a western 
grown leaf of full size, but rough qual- 
ity. They are manufactured principal- 
ly in Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, 
Wheeling, etc. 
One of the large tobacco companies operates 
about 25 large cigar factories in various centers 
of the U. S. Here are made all classes of 
domestic cigars, but all are made under the 
same conditions of sanitation, economic hand- 
ling and strict supervision. The leaf is pre- 
pared, selected, fermented, blended, etc., in the 
company's own special leaf houses and is des- 

106 



patched to the various factories as needed. All 
the better class of domestic cigars are hand- 
made, machinery being used in making the 
cheaper grades. There are special factories 
for the making of "little cigars," of which a 
vast number are made on account of their 
popularity. These include the package goods 
and those put up in cardboard boxes of which 
such brands as "Virginia Cheroots" and "Royal 
Bengals" are types. By the terms "little cigar" 
the trade recognizes all cigars under the regular 
standard size and which weigh less than 3 
pounds per thousand. In some "little cigar" 
factories these little cigars are not made from 
inferior leaf. They are made usually from the 
small leaves of the tobacco intended for higher 
priced goods, but which on account of faulty 
size cannot be used. The leaf is, however, cured 
and prepared in exactly the same way. In 
addition the "scrap" or waste portions of the 
high priced leaf is used for fillers for little 
cigars. The little cigars of this type are usually 
of first-rate quality and on account of their 
small cost give excellent value to the smoker. 

Cigars. Miscellaneous 
There are a good many terms used in the 
cigar trade to denote color, size, quality, etc., 
which smokers should know the meaning of. 

107 



Most of these terms are Spanish, because the 
cigar trade was for a long time confined to 
Cuba. 

Terms used to denote the quality of cigar leaf 

Desecho. The finest quality; the top leaves 
of plant; best because they have re- 
ceived most sunshine and dew. 

Desechito. Good leaves but inferior to 
desecho. 

Libra. Good leaves but small in size ; the smal- 
ler top and bottom leaves. 

Injuriado. Injured leaves; root leaves soil 
stained and injured by insects. 

Terms used to denote color 
Note: The color term refers to the wrapper 
only. Many smokers judge the mildness or 
strength of a cigar by its outside color. This 
is a fallacy. The wrapper constitutes only 
about 2 per cent of the cigar weight. More- 
over color is no criterion of strength. The 
darkest cigar may be and usually is very mild. 
The color is due (1) to the soil, (2) to the age 
of the plant when cut, and (3) to the length of 
time of curing and fermentation. As a general 
rule the lighter the color the more inferior and 
immature is the tobacco. Cigar smokers should 
remember this. 

108 



Ci^ARO or Clara. Very light colored. The 

lightest shade known in selected leaves. 
Colorado. Red; medium in color. 
Colorado Clara. Light Brown. 
Colorado Maduro. Dark Brown. 
Maduro. Ripe; very dark, almost black in 

color. 
Terms used to denote size and shape 
Conchas. Shell; cigars so marked are 414" 

long. 
Concha Fina. A first quality Concha. 
Concha Especial. Finely finished and some- 
what larger than a Concha. 
LoNDRES. London. Specially made for the 

London market and on account of its 

shape and length. 
Regalias. A cigar of a finer grade of tobacco 

than is used in Londres or Conchas. 
Damas. Ladies ; small cigar about 3" long. 
Panatelas. a long thin cigar that has been 

heavily pressed. 
NoN PLUS ULTRA. A large handsome cigar 

made from the finest tobacco. 
Escepcionales. Exceptionally large sized 

cigar. 
Opera. A small after-dinner cigar about 3%/' 

long. 
Princesses. Like the Opera, but thinner. 
CoauETTAS. Flirt; 3%" long. 

109 



Brevas. a short, thick cigar. 
Noblesse. The largest and most expensive 
cigars. 
In addition to the above there is a multitude 
of trade names, such as Club House, Hoifman 
House, Rothschilds, Invincibles, Perfectos, etc., 
etc. Some of these terms merely denote par- 
ticular brands put out by certain makers and 
to distinguish their products. The Spanish 
terms refer to the cigar itself and not to the 
maker. They may be used by any maker, and 
no longer refer to any standard of excellence. 
(See references end of Chapter XV) 



110 



CHAPTER XII 

CIGARS AND THEIR QUALITIES 

Qualities of cigars and cigar leaf. Im- 
ported CIGARS. HaVANAS. 

Domestic cigars. 



Ill 



CIGARS AND THEIR QUALITIES 

A cigar consists essentially of three distinct 
parts: the body or inner part called the filler; 
the covering of the filler which is called the 
binder; and the outside finishing cover which 
is called the wrapper. Cuban cigars, however, 
consist of filler and wrapper only. 

Except in the case of cigars made in Cuba 
the wrapper leaf is usually of a different class 
of tobacco from the rest of the cigar, as the 
qualities to be fulfilled by each part is different. 
The qualities required in a cigar must be viewed 
both from the smokers' and the manufacturers' 
standpoints and the leaf must be such as to 
conform to these qualities. Thus the smoker is 
concerned with the burning quality, the taste, 
flavor, aroma, color, general appearance and 
strength of the cigar. The manufacturer in 
addition to seeking leaf that will answer the 
smokers' requirements also has an eye to econ- 
omy and requires the leaf to have qualities re- 
garding size, weight, texture, etc. Therefore, 
in the best cigar leaf the following qualities are 
more or less essential: (1) good color, (2) fair 
body, (3) a continuous pleasant aroma, (4) 
fine texture combined with a certain toughness, 
(5) small ribs and veins, (6) good combustion 
so that it will hold fire for 4 or five minutes. 

lis 



The burning must be free and even with a white 
or whitish-brown ash which remains intact until 
cigar is three-fourths smoked, (7) good size of 
leaf, (8) must be elastic and souple, must not be 
brittle, (9) it must be free from spots and light 
in weight. 

Some of these qualities are essential in filler 
leaf; some in wrapper leaf. Thus the color of 
filler leaf does not matter ; neither does the 
aroma of the wrapper the essential qualities of 
which are color, lightness and elasticity. 

The cigars consumed in the U. S. are either 
(a) Imported or (b) Home Manufactured. 

(a) Imported Cigars 

The most important of the imported cigars 
are those that come from Cuba, Porto Rico and 
the Philippines. 

Up to the time of the Civil War cigars were 
imported principally from Germany and Cuba 
and the value was about 4% million dollars 
annually. High import duties have, however, 
altered this and the number of imported cigars 
is nearly 90 per cent less than formerly. The 
value of the import has not, however, fallen so 
much, that is to say only the higher grades of 
cigars are imported. The value of cigars now 
imported does not exceed 3 million dollars 
annually and they are principally Cuban. 

114. 



Cuban, or so-called Havana, Cigars 
As the strictest laws are enforced in Cuba 
against the importation of tobacco, it follows 
that all genuine so-called Havana cigars are 
made of Cuban tobacco. The Havana Tobacco 
Co. controls about 260,000 acres of the best 
Cuban tobacco land and has 25 factories in the 
City of Havana. Here Havana cigars are made 
in all grades from those which can be bought at 
2 for 25c to those which cost $2.00 each. The 
high priced are very limited in quality, being 
made from tobacco grown in specially favored 
districts. The Province of Pinar del Rio pro- 
duces 70 per cent of the whole Cuban crop, and 
includes the celebrated District of Vuelta Abajo 
in which the finest cigar tobacco in the world is 
grown; the Provinces of Havana and Santa 
Clara each produces about 13 per cent of the 
Cuban crop. Havana Partidio leaf is of very 
fine quality and is used principally as wrappers 
of clear Havanas. Havana Remedios leaf comes 
from Santa Clara, has a high flavor, rather 
heavy body and is used mostly for fillers. 

The very finest Havana cigars never leave 
Cuba, for the merchant keeps them for his own 
use. He is a smoker before a trader. The crop 
of the very best Vuelta Abajo tobacco is so 
small that not more than about 30,000 cigars 
can be made from it. These are kept for pri- 

115 



vate purchasers and none go on the market. 
The finest Havanas are of an even tint of rich 
dark brown, free from all stains and spots, 
burning freely to a white or whitish-brown ash, 
and holding fire for 4 or 5 minutes. Altogether 
the District of Vuelta Abajo produces about 
one-quarter million bales of leaf annually and 
about one-tenth of this is high class and pro- 
duces up to 20 dollars per lb. on the spot. 

As stated previously, Cuban cigars have no 
binder. They consist of filled and wrapper only 
and are all hand-made. The unique position 
which these cigars have held for so long is due 
not only to perfect curing and blending of the 
leaf, but also to the superior skill of the Cuban 
workmen who are the most expert cigarmakers 
and blenders in the world, and who in the best 
factories are allowed to take all the time they 
need in making the cigar. Some of these 
"Tabacqueros" have been making the same 
brand of cigar for 20 years or longer. 

Of the total annual output of Cuban made 
cigars, England takes about 40 per cent, the 
U. S. about 25 per cent and Germany 13 per 
cent. In 1913, the U. S. imported 659,358 lbs. 
of cigars and cheroots from Cuba valued for 
$3,999,410. 



116 



Porto Rico Cigars 
From Porto Rico the U. S. ships about 125 
million cigars annually. 

Philippine Cigars 

The laws in force between the U. S. and the 
Philippine Islands, governing the tariff, provide 
for the importation annually from the Philip- 
pines to the U. S. free of import duties, of cigar 
wrapper leaf and filler leaf mixed or packed 
with more than 15 per cent of wrapper leaf, 
not in excess of 300,000 lbs. ; of filler leaf alone 
not in excess of 1,000,000 lbs.; and manufac- 
tured cigars in number not exceeding 150,000,- 
000. The shipping must be direct. 

As the Philippine leaf is excellent and labor 
there is cheap, the U. S. smoker is thus enabled 
to get a very good smoke at a small cost. The 
full number of cigars allowed at least is im- 
ported. In 1913 the importation of Philippine 
cigars and cheroots to the U. S. was 1,641,832 
lbs. valued at $2,296,823. 

Home Manufactured Cigars 
For the home manufactured cigar trade the 
leaf used is either imported or home grown. 

Imported cigar leaf comes principally from 
Cuba, Dutch East Indies (Sumatra, Java, etc.), 
Porto Rico, Mexico, Brazil, and the Philippines. 

117 



Imported Cuban leaf is used both as fillers 
and wrappers. The U. S. as already stated 
imports about 26 million lbs. annually. The 
leaf varies in length from 8'' to 18"; is a rich 
brown color, and its principal characteristic is 
its fine flavor and aroma, which is unequalled 
by any other tobacco in the world. 

The Sumatran leaf is perhaps more import- 
ant in the U. S. cigar trade than the Cuban 
leaf. It is used exclusively as wrappers, on 
account of its fine light brown color, its elastic 
texture and light weight. The genuine imported 
leaf is much less in weight than that grown from 
Sumatran seed in Florida. About 2 lbs. of 
imported Sumatran leaf will wrap 1,000 cigars. 
Its length is usually from 14 to 20 inches and 
the U. S. imports annually about 7 million lbs., 
valued at about 5 million dollars. The use of 
Sumatran leaf as a wrapper for home-made 
cigars has increased remarkably in the last 
quarter century. In the quinquennium ending 
1885 the number of such cigars was 34 millions. 
In the last quinquennium the number exceeded 
2,000 millions. 

The Sumatran leaf has little aroma or flavor 
and its value is for appearance only. The 
average prices paid by the United States for 
imported cigar leaf in 1914 was: for leaf suit- 

118 



able for cigar making, 127c per lb. ; for "other 
leaf," 50.44c per lb. 

Other Imported Cigar Leaf 
Since the introduction of tax-free manufac- 
tured cigars from the Philippines the importa- 
tion of leaf has declined. 

Mexican leaf is used as a substitute for 
Cuban, to which it is inferior. 

The imports of cigar leaf tobacco from Porto 
Rico and Brazil are relatively unimportant. 

Cigar Leaf Tobacco Grown in the U. S. 
The home grown tobacco leaf used in the 
cigar manufacturing trade of the U. S. is grown 
principally in the states of Connecticut, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Wisconsin, Florida, 
Georgia, and Texas. The Connecticut leaf is 
used for wrappers and binders. The Ohio and 
Pennsylvania leaf almost exclusively for fillers. 
Wisconsin produces binder leaf particularly. 
The leaf grown elsewhere is used mostly as 
wrappers. It is usual, however, to use the im- 
ported and Sumatran leaf as wrappers for all 
high class home-made cigars. 

The finest American grown wrapper leaf is 
raised in Connecticut. The best known brands 
are known as Connecticut Seedleaf and Connec- 
ticut Broadleaf, both varieties raised orginally 

119 



from imported Havana seed. The leaf is desti- 
tute of thick fibers and has a fine texture. They 
run from 14'' to 26" in length, giving good 
wrapping capacity. 

The Pennsylvania leaf is also classed as Seed 
and Broadleaf. It is about the same size as the 
Connecticut, but does not equal it in quality. 
The principal varieties in Ohio are the Geb- 
hardt, Zimmer, Spanish, and Little Dutch. 
These do not usually exceed 20" in length. 
Florida cigar leaf is usually small, running 
from 10" to 14" in length. 

(For references see Chapter XV) 



120 



CHAPTER XIII 

PIPE SMOKING AND CHEWING 
TOBACCOS 

Qualities required. Description of kinds. 
Perique tobacco. Statistics. 



121 



PIPE SMOKING AND CHEVH :G 
TOBACCOS 

For pipe smoking mixtures the tobacco ioaf 
used is of various kinds. Preferred strains of 
leaf from Virginia, North and South Carolina, 
Tennessee, Kentucky, Marj^and, and East 
Ohio, to which is added sometimes Turkish, 
Latakia, Perique, and a little Havana. The 
blend is made while the tobacco is in leaf form, 
portions of the desired kinds being assembled 
in accordance with a formula followed by the 
manufacturer. The leaf is then put through 
the required mechanical processes. 

The qualities necessary in pipe smoking to- 
baccos are that it must burn evenly, slowly, 
smoothly and thoroughly; it must have an 
agreeable aroma ; it must not cause a burning 
or acrid sensation in the mouth when smoked; 
it is desirable that its nicotine contents should 
be low. Appearance is not of any consequence, 
but the manufacturer looks for leaf that, in ad- 
dition to the above qualities, is free from gum- 
miness as this interferes with granulation and 
cutting; also that the leaf may be a good 
absorbing kind in order that it may imbibe the 
juices with which this class of manufactured 
tobacco is treated both for chewing and pipe 
smoking. 



As the taste of smokers with regard to the 
flavor and aroma of pipe tobacco varies con- 
siderably, some desiring a strong, others a mild 
or light tobacco, this must be taken into ac- 
count by the manufacturer and the blends 
graded accordingly. 

Pipe smoking tobaccos are distinguished ac- 
cording to the different mechanical processes 
used in their production. Thus there are (1) 
Granulated, (2) Plug-cut, (3) Long-cut, Fine- 
cut, etc. In former days it was customary for 
smokers to buy their tobacco in the roll or 
twist and cut and manipulate it themselves. 
This custom has, however, passed away almost 
entirely in the U. S. It still survives to a large 
extent in Europe where smokers prefer their 
tobacco moist. In the U. S. pipe smoking 
tobacco is usually cut and ready for the pipe 
and sold in packages or cans. 

Granulated is tobacco that has been flaked 
by breaking or cutting machines with blunt 
teeth or saws and then passed over a series of 
oscillating sieves of graded mesh. 

Plug-cut or Cut-plug is first made into 
plugs by pressure. These plugs are then cut 
into thin slices convenient for crumbling. The 
slices are put up in packages in which form the 
smoker uses it. Special forms of cut-plug are, 
bird's-eye, short-cut, cube-cut, straight-cut, 

124 



curly-cut, wavy-cut and cavendish-cut; the 
name being determined by the shape of the cut 
slices. "Navy-cut" is a particular kind of 
plug which was originally prepared directly 
by shipmen. 

Long-cut tobacco is leaf cut into long 
shreds. It differs from plug-cut in not having 
been pressed into solid plugs before cutting. 

Fine-cut is finer and shorter shreds than the 
long-cut, and the tobacco used is usually of a 
less gummy kind. 

Other varieties known in the trade are : 

German Smoking. A coarse-grained, heavy 
tobacco with strong flavor. It is a coarse 
granulated tobacco. 

Strips. A fine shredded or powdered tobacco 
used principally in the mining camps of Penn- 
sylvania. 

Scrap. Smoking tobacco made up from 
cigar clippings and cheap cigar leaf of the 
filler and binder type. 

Perique Tobacco 
Perique tobacco is a specially dark, rich 
variety having special qualities which ren- 
der it desirable as a component in pipe smoking 
mixtures, or for straight smoking. Genuine 
Perique is grown and prepared only in the 
Parish of St. James in the State of Louisiana 

125 



bj the descendants of the old French Colonists. 
The properties which it possesses are essential- 
ly due to the peculiar method of curing and 
fermentation and not to any peculiarity in the 
leaf itself. It is the only tobacco in the United 
States that is grown and put in its final condi- 
tion for the consumer by the farmer. It is 
said that the output of genuine Perique is small, 
being well under 50,000 lbs. annually. But 
there is a good deal of substitute Perique sold 
in lieu of the genuine kind. 

The tobacco is raised on a black, deep, ex- 
ceedingly rich soil. The leaf is medium in size, 
about 18" long, and a rapid grower. The stem 
is small, the fiber tough and gummy. 

In curing no artificial heat is used. The 
leaf is hung in sheds for about 10 days. It is 
then stripped into half leaves. These are taken 
in bundles of about 20 each and converted into 
rough "twists." A dozen or so "twists" are 
packed in a box 11'' square the weight being 
about 50 lbs. The contents of the box are then 
submitted to a pressure of about 7000 lbs. for 
at least 24 hours. The tobacco is then taken 
out and the twists again opened up. The leaves 
are exposed to the air and sunlight until an 
exudate appears on them and is reabsorbed. 
This is done over and over again for at least 
10 days or until in appearance the tobacco 

126 



is quite black. That is to say the curing of 
Perique is accomplished by allowing it to soak 
its own juice and then submitting to heavy 
pressure and repeating this process several 
times. When the leaf is cured it is made into 
rolls or "carottes." A cotton cloth 24" x 18" 
is taken and covered with leaves. Others are 
spread crosswise over these. Then rolled and 
a thin rope is wound very tightly about each 
bundle on "carotte." This process like the cur- 
ing is repeated over and over again. One man 
can handle about 10 carottes in a day, the 
weight being about 4 lbs. each. 

Perique is considered to have a finer aroma 
than any other pipe smoking tobacco and its 
presence in a mixture is at once detected by 
the experienced smoker. It is said to contain 
only % of the citric acid, % of the nitric acid 
and 6 times as much acetic acid as tobacco 
cured in air. The resultant aroma is rich and 
fragrant, and the taste is smooth, delicate and 
agreeable. It is also claimed that it stimulates 
the brain without in any way being hurtful to 
the digestive or nervous systems. 

When the carottes are finally made it is usual 
to leave them under pressure for at least 12 
months. The aroma is said to improve as the 
tobacco grows older. 

127 



It has been stated above that much of the 
Perique tobacco is a substitute for the genuine. 
This substitute is made by taking inferior leaf 
and submitting it to a similar process, i. e., 
pressure and oxidation repeatedly. The pro- 
cess is abridged but a black tobacco results 
particularly when certain darkening ingredi- 
ants are added. The moral is if you want 
genuine Perique be sure where you get it, and 
don't grudge the price. 

Chewing Tobacco 

The particular qualities required in leaf for 
this purpose are toughness, sweetness of taste, 
and a richness in oils and gums. Suitable leaf 
having been selected the leaf is cut and moulded 
into small plugs or "chews" which are put up 
in boxes for the market. Flavoring essences are 
of course plentifully used. 

As well as plug, chewing tobacco may be of 
the variety known as twist, the leaves being spun 
and twisted in a continuous roll. 

The plug consists of a wrapper and filler like 
the cigar the brighter and better grades of leaf 
being used as wrappers. Burley leaf and the 
yellow leaf tobacco of Virginia, Kentucky and 
the Carolinas are principally used. The sub- 
stances used for flavoring are liquorice, cane 
sugar, maple sugar, molasses, and rum, prin- 

128 



cipally. The plugs are packed in boxes of 72 
lbs. each, and also smaller boxes of 10 and 12 
lbs. each. 

The principal centers of the manufacture of 
pipe smoking and chewing tobacco are Missouri 
(St. Louis) ; North Carolina (Durham and 
Winston) ; Kentucky (Louisville) ; New Jer- 
sey (Jersey City) ; Virginia (Richmond) and 
Ohio (Cincinnati). 

There are altogether about 400 establish- 
ments employing about 20,000 persons, and 
the value of the product is over 100 million 
dollars annually. 

This class of products is by its nature more 
suitable for concentration of manufacture than 
either cigars or cigarettes. Hence the small 
number of establishments. 

Only about 10 million lbs. of manufactured 
tobacco is exported. 

(See references end of Chapter XV) 



129 



CHAPTER XIV 

CIGARETTES 

Statistics. Kinds and where made. Im- 
ported Cigarettes. Domestic Cigar- 
ettes. Cigarette papers. 



181 



CIGARETTES 

A cigarette according to the meaning of the 
word is a small cigar. It consists of a roll of 
loose tobacco wrapped in a case of either paper 
or tobacco-leaf. In the latter case it is known 
as an all-tobacco cigarette. 

Since the introduction of cigarette making 
machinery the output of cigarettes in the 
United States has grown enormously. This 
will be seen from the following figures which 
represent the output of cigarettes for the past 
25 years : 

Number of cigarettes 
Year manufactured in the United States. 

1890 2,000,000,000 

1895 3,500,000,000 

1900 4,000,000,000 

1905 6,500,000,000 

1910 7,000,000,000 

These figures taken from Government Re- 
ports are given in round numbers. They in- 
clude "little cigars" which form about 15% 
of the totals. About one-third is at present 
exported. In addition to the manufactured 
cigarettes there is, of course, the large amount 
of cigarettes made directly by the smoker him- 
self. 

133 



There are only about 500 establishments in 
the whole U. S. engaged in cigarette manu- 
facture and about ten of these manufacture 
four times as many as all the rest together. 
There would in fact be fewer factories except 
for the popularity of certain brands of hand 
made cigarettes. 95% of the total output is 
made in 4 cities, i. e., New York, Dunham, N. 
C. ; Richmond, Va. ; and New Orleans. New 
York City alone manufactures about 60% of 
the whole; Richmond about 16% ; New Orleans 
about 10% and Durham the balance. 

Every country manufactures its own peculiar 
brand of cigarettes. The best known and most 
popular kinds of cigarettes are those known 
as Virginian, Turkish, Havana, Porto Rican, 
Mexican, Russian and Philippine. 

The Havana, Porto Rican, Mexican and 
Philippine cigarettes are usually of the all-to- 
bacco kind — the others being paper wrapped. 
They are generally made from the cuttings and 
smaller leaves of cigar leaf tobacco. 

Turkish cigarettes are celebrated all the 
world over. The name is however mostly a 
misnomer, for nearly all the so-called Turkish 
cigarettes proper are made in Egypt, Greece, 
etc., and not in Turkey. In Egypt, however, 
the best Turkish cigarettes are made from 
tobacco grown in Turkey (in Europe) which 

134 



is imported, as no tobacco is grown in Egypt. 
The peculiar flavor of Egyptian Turkish cigar- 
ettes is due to special methods known only to 
the makers there. 

The crop of Turkish tobacco, particularly 
of the better kinds suitable for cigarettes, is 
small and less than half of it is exported. The 
supply of genuine Turkish cigarette tobacco 
is, therefore, strictly limited and does not find 
its way into ordinary channels. Much of so- 
called "Turkish" tobacco comes from China, 
and other parts of Asia. From Turkey, in 
Europe, the United States annually imports at 
present about ten million lbs., the actual 
government figures for 1913 being 10,816,048 
lbs. valued at about 5% niillion dollars. 

From Turkey in Asia the imports in 1912 
were 11,233,546 lbs., and in 1913, 18,955,295, 
this latter being valued at nearly 5 million dol- 
lars. It does not follow that all this latter is 
Turkish. It was probably in large part col- 
lected from distant points and shipped from 
ports in Asia Minor. The imports of Turkish 
tobacco during 1914 are considerably reduced 
on account of the war. 

One American company which does an 
immense business in the cigarette line main- 
tains at Cavallo a large establishment for the 
direct purchase and treatment of its own 

135 



Turkish leaf. This plant handles about 6 mil- 
lion lbs. of leaf annually. The American smoker 
of home-made Turkish cigarettes has the ad- 
vantage of knowing that his leaf is genuine and 
bought economically. 

The most valued kind of Turkish tobacco 
is that grown in the Caza of Yenidji on the 
Vardar River region in Roumelia. 

The Latakia tobacco grown in the hilly part 
of Northern Syria is also celebrated as a cigar- 
ette tobacco. This tobacco has a low nicotine 
percentage (less than one per cent) and its 
peculiar aroma is due to its exposure for nearly 
6 months to the smoke of the tree known as 
Quercus Ilex. Very choice parcels of these 
tobaccos fetch in the open market from $3 to 
$5 per lb. ; lower grades are bought from 25c 
per lb. and up. 

The best known grades of cigarettes made 
from genuine Turkish leaf are the La Ferme of 
Leipzig and St. Petersburg; the Nestor and 
Melachrino of Egypt; the Monopol of New 
York; and the Dubec of Richmond. In the 
Turkish hand-made cigarette there is no flavor- 
ing of any kind. In Europe the Turkish cigar- 
ettes are usually made by Greeks who are 
special adepts at this work. 

The paper wrappers are imported from 
France or Austria. The native cigarette 

136 



makers as a rule blend their own leaf and cut 
or shred it by hand. An expert workman can 
make about 3,000 cigarettes per day. 

In the United States, Turkish cigarettes are 
of two kinds, imported and domestic. The im- 
ported include those purchased already made 
from Egypt, England, France, etc. In 1913 
the value of cigarettes purchased directly by 
the U. S. from Egypt was about $25,000 and 
from England $22,000, other countries less. In 
1914 the total cost of imported cigarettes (not 
including those from Philippine Islands) was 
$79,554. The value of such trade is, therefore, 
not large. The Turkish cigarettes made in the 
States are termed Domestic Turkish, and are 
usually hand-made, though not by any means 
exclusively so. It appears to be nothing more 
than an idiosyncrasy to consider that a hand- 
made cigarette is better than a machine-made 
one. As in the case of cigars, other things 
being equal it would appear that on many con- 
siderations, hygienic as well as mechanical, the 
balance is in favor of the machine. However, 
many still think there is some peculiar talis- 
manic virtue in a hand-made cigarette and are 
willing to pay a higher price. There is, of 
course, a pleasure in making one's own cigar- 
ettes, but when they are bought made the ad- 
vantage of hand-making is not very apparent. 

137 



There are many variants of the Turkish 
cigarette. Besides the common paper wrapped 
variety some have fillers of Turkish tobacco 
with Havana or Virginia leaf wrapper; others 
have mixed fillers of Turkish, Virginia, Havana 
or Perique, two or more or all kinds being 
mixed. Each type of cigarette has its own 
special votaries. Cigarettes of this variety are 
not, however, so popular in the United States 
as in other countries where the cigarette is the 
most pronounced type smoked. 

The American cigarette is generally made of 
Yellow Virginian tobacco and is popular all 
the world over. The secret of success in good 
cigarette making lies in the selection and blend- 
ing of the leaf so that the proper strength and 
characteristics may be secured. As a general 
rule no adulterants of any kind are added to 
the tobacco except in some of the very cheap 
kinds in which the leaf is sometimes treated with 
a glycerine solution in order to give it a sweetish 
taste. The solution is quite harmless. 

The machinery for the manufacture of cigar- 
ettes has been brought to such perfection that 
it is quite automatic. The only hand work re- 
quired is the feeding of the tobacco into the 
hoppers. The cutting, rolling, wrapping, tip- 
ping and packing are all done quite mechanical- 
ly, the cigarettes being turned out all ready 

138 



for the smoker. In the large factories the pro- 
cesses are under strict hygienic conditions, 
which is not usually the case in the small work- 
shops where the hand-made goods are prepared. 
The various machines used in the manufactur- 
ing processes are highly complicated and a 
detailed description of them would be too tech- 
nical for these pages. 

The paper used for wrapping cigarettes has 
frequently been the subject of most unwar- 
ranted attacks and the most absurd statements 
have been made regarding it. Investigation and 
analysis of the paper used in the very cheapest 
grades of cigarettes by competent authorities 
have failed to find anything deleterious to 
health. The paper used for this purpose is 
made principally in France. It is of the kind 
known as rice paper although it has no connec- 
tion whatever with rice. It is a vegetable sub- 
stance being made usually from the membranes 
of the bread fruit tree or else from fine trim- 
mings of flax and hemp. The materials are 
thoroughly washed and treated with lime and 
soda before and after pulping. Careful analysis 
are made to see that nothing is left that might 
be harmful and the manufacturers use the great- 
est care and judgment to see that their product 
is as pure and perfect as possible as it is their 
interest that it should be so. The paper is ex- 

139 



tremely thin and light, very combustible, and 
gives off very little smoke. These are the only 
qualities necessary and there is not the least 
reason to use any harmful ingredients, as the re- 
quired qualities can be obtained by the ordinary 
manufacturing processes. Moreover, the best 
paper can be manufactured and supplied at a 
very low cost. From France the United States 
annually imports about $500,000 worth of 
cigarette paper and from Austria about 
$120,000 worth. 

Most manufactured cigarettes have a protec- 
tive tip at the mouth end. This not only keeps 
the cigarette intact but prevents the tobacco 
from being wetted by the saliva. As already 
stated, nicotine is soluble in water, and its en- 
trance to the mouth in this form is thus 
obviated. The tips are made of various sub- 
stances, cork, straw, goldleaf, cherry wood, 
etc., in fact any water-proof substance that is 
harmless, nonadherent and smooth can be used. 

Cigarettes must according to the law of the 
U. S. be put up in packages of 5, 8, 10, 15, 20, 
50 or 100, and the packages must not contain 
any lottery or chance ticket nor any indecent 
picture. 

Much criticism, that is to a large extent 
groundless, has been directed against the habit 
of cigarette smoking. It has been shown by 

140 



many investigators that when not carried to 
excess the cigarette is the safest method of 
using tobacco. The reader is referred to the 
remarks regarding cigarettes in the chapter 
respecting the effect of tobacco on the human 
system; but it may be as well here to quote a 
recent editorial from one of the leading repre- 
sentative medical journals of the United States, 
the opinion stated in which should go far to- 
wards removing the absurd prejudice against 
the cigarette. 

From the New York Medical Journal of 
July 25, 1914 (Editorial) : 

"Particularly do the uninformed enjoy an 
attack on the cigarette ; it is cheap ; it is small ; 
and its patrons, numerous as they are, yet form 
an insignificant minority in our immense popu- 
lation. Therefore, the cigarette and its users 
are fair game for cheap and silly sneers ; sneers 
which are capable, however, of cowing an entire 
legislature, as in Georgia at this moment. Yet, 
beyond cavil, it has been proved scientifically 
that of all methods of using tobacco, cigarette 
smoking is the least harmful. Some months ago 
the Laucet undertook a careful laboratory 
study of the various ways of consuming tobacco, 
with the result that it was found that |;he cigar- 
ettes, Egyptian, Turkish and American, yielded 
the least amount of nicotine to the smoke 

141 



formed; the cigar came next in point of harm- 
lessness, while the pipe overshadowed the cigar 
to the extent that from 70 to 90% of nicotine 
was said to exist in its smoke. 

"As to the paper of cigarettes the attacks 

are simply preposterous. 

******* 

"Men are well within their rights in forbid- 
ding cigarette smoking and other pleasures and 
distractions to their employes; it is another 
matter when they seize an opportunity to com- 
pound with vices they have a mind to, by damn- 
ing one they're not inclined to, especially when 
the latter affords solace and recreation to mil- 
lions perfectly capable of judging what is and 
what is not good for them. In Europe where 
a good deal of logical thinking still prevails, 
there is probably not one smoker of distinction 
in any walk of life who does not include the 
cigarette in his nicotian armamentarium." 
(See references end of Chapter XV) 



142 



CHAPTER XV 

SNUFF 
How MADE. Qualities. Description of 

KINDS. 



148 



SNUFF 

A century ago snuif taking was the principal 
form in which tobacco was used. The custom 
pervaded all classes of society and it was used 
by both sexes. The habit has to a very large 
extent died out; and it is rarely now that 
one sees a snuff box in use. Nevertheless there 
is still a very large trade in snuif manufacture, 
and it is used very extensively in many coun- 
tries. It will surprise many to know that about 
24 million lbs. of snuff are manufactured and 
used annually in the U. S. and that within re- 
cent years the percentage of increase in the use 
of this form of tobacco has been higher than in 
the case of cigar, cigarette or pipe smoking 
kinds. The value of the snuif manufactured an- 
nually is appraised for revenue purposes at 
about 6 million dollars. 

The process of the manufacture of snuif or 
tobacco powder, is essentially based on long and 
thorough fermentation as all bitter substances, 
acid and essential oils, as well as a large part of 
the nicotine, must be removed. 

Strong, coarse tobacco is suitable for the 
purpose, the darker types of Virginian and 
Tennessee tobaccos being used. Strong tobacco 
does not necessarily contain a high percentage 
of nicotine as is usually supposed. Strength 

145 



has nothing to do with nicotine content; but 
whatever amount of nicotine the tobacco pos- 
sesses, at least one-half must be removed by fer- 
mentation. As a general rule tobacco leaf 
which is at least 2 years old is used and this is 
submitted to a further fermentation process of 
a special kind for a period varying from 2 to 6 
months. When the fermentation process is com- 
plete, the tobacco, while still in leaf and un- 
powdered, is technically known as snuff. There 
are two principal kinds of snuff and there are 
many varieties of each kind principally differ- 
ing in flavor and minor qualities. 

The two kinds of snuff are known as Wet and 
Dry. These terms are due to the difference in 
the mode of manufacture. 

In making wet snuff, the tobacco leaves are 
ground up into grain form before the fermenta- 
tion takes place. It only becomes snuff when 
the fermentation is completed. 

In the dry kind the grinding does not take 
place until after the fermentation is completed, 
when the fermented leaves are thoroughly dried. 

The grinding is then done in a muller similar 
to a mortar and pestle — this operation being 
conducted by machinery on a large scale. After 
grinding the snuff is put through a sieving pro- 
cess and is then sent to the seasoning depart- 

146 



ment, thus occupying from 2 to 6 months or 

even longer. 

Various flavors — attar of roses and such 

like — are added to give the snuif different scents 

and flavors. 

The various names under which brands of 

snuff are put up are survivals of names applied 

to snuff made by methods no longer in vogue : 

Scotch Snuffs are all dry. There are various 
kinds — strong, plain, sweet, salt, high- 
toast, etc. 

Maccaboy is a semi-wet snuff. 

Swedish Snuffs usually contain a large per- 
centage of moisture. The grains are 
coarse and usually highly flavored. 
Snuff taking is still extensive among 
the Swedish people. 

Rappee is a snuff made after the French 
fashion. 

REFERENCES (Chapters IX to XV) 
U. S. Dept. of Commerce. Bureau of the 

Census. Report of 13th Census, 1910. (Vol. 

on Manufacturers, 1912-1913.) 
U. S. Dept. of Commerce and Labor. Bureau 

OF Corporations. Report of the Commissioner 

of Corporations on the Tobacco Industry. Vol. 

I, 1909, Continued. 



147 



IvENS, W. M. Brief and argument in certain ap- 
peals from the Circuit Court of U. S. for South- 
ern District of New York. (Tobacco Monopoly, 
1911.) 

HoAGLAND, I. G. The Tobacco Industry. In 
Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Assn., 
1907. Vol. I, Nos. 2 and 4. 

Jacobstein, M. The Tobacco Industry in the 
U. S. New York, 1907. 



148 



CHAPTER XVI 

SMOKING PIPES 

History. Materials used in making. Meer- 
schaum. Briar root. Amber. Special 
kinds of pipes. Care of pipes. 



149 



PIPES 

The history of tobacco smoking pipes began 
with the discovery of tobacco by the Spaniards. 
How long before that event they were used is 
not known, bat that they were used by the 
Indians and others for a long period is quite 
clear from many items of evidence. The reader 
who desires information concerning pre-Colum- 
bian tobacco pipes is referred to the Pipes and 
smoking customs of the American Aborigines, 
by J. D. McQuire, based on the material in the 
U. S. National Museum 1889, and other similar 
archaological works. 

The first mention of pipes in literature ap- 
pears to have been made by Oviedo in 1535 in 
his work La historia general de las Indias 
(Part 1). In this there is a small wood cut 
which is the oldest known picture of a pipe. 
This pipe was shaped like a Y — the two ends 
of which were placed in the nose and the to- 
bacco leaves in the stem. The smoke was inhaled. 
Oviedo says that this pipe was called "Tabaca" 
from which the name tobacco was probably de- 
rived. Admiral John Hawkins was the first to 
mention the pipe in English literature in 1564. 

Raleigh's famous smoking feat did not take 
place until 1586. 



151 



The Indian pipes were principally of clay and 
this material was used in England for the first 
pipes made there and continued in sole use for 
about 250 years. From England it came to 
New England, with the first colonists. The 
Spaniards of South America did not generally 
use pipes. Meerschaum as a pipe making ma- 
terial was not known in Europe till 1723. It 
came about in this way: There was then in 
Pesth (Austria-Hungary) an honest old shoe- 
maker, Karl Kowates, who, when he was not 
making or mending shoes, made pipes. Count 
Andrassy, was one of his pipe patrons. The 
Count while on a mission to Turkey in 1723 
was presented with a lump of meerschaum. 
The lightness and porosity of the material sug- 
gested to him that it would be a very suitable 
substance for a pipe bowl and on his return to 
Pesth he handed the lump to Karl to make a 
pipe of it. It seems Karl made two, one for the 
Count and one for himself. But Karl did more 
than that. The nature of his shoe work made 
his hands waxy and he noticed that wherever the 
pipe was waxed by his hands it turned into spots 
of clear brown color. He thus discovered the 
coloring qualities of meerschaum. Karl's first 
pipe is still preserved (it is said) at Pesth. 

The new material became very popular and it 
spread from Austria all over pipe-smoking 
Europe. j^g 



Wooden pipes do not appear to have come 
into use till the early part of the 19th Century. 

There is a good deal of interesting lore con- 
cerning early clay pipes into which it is not 
proposed to enter here. It will be interesting, 
however, to note that in William Penn's land 
transactions with the Indians, 300 clay pipes 
(probably English make) were one of the 
articles of barter. 

The earliest clay pipe stems were about 9 
inches long. The long stem pipes with glazed 
ends were introduced about the year 1700 and 
were known as "Aldermen." The pipe known 
as the "Churchwarden" with a very long, thin, 
curved stem which was typical of a leisurable 
smoke did not come into use till about 1819. 
In those days smokers did not commonly carry 
pipes around with them. When a man arrived 
at an inn or tavern he ordered a pipe and to- 
bacco, just as he ordered his dinner. The 
"Cutty" or "Aberdeen" with the short stem was, 
however, used by those who needed a pocket 

pipe. ^ 

It is very surprising how little changes the 
pipe has undergone. The original pipe was a 
simple bowl and stem, and the best pipe today 
is a plain bowl and stem; for although hun- 
dreds of devices and all kinds of patents have 
been tried, the true smoker prefers the simple 

153 



plain pipe which offers no obstacle to the clear 
drawing of the smoke from the burning tobacco. 

The materials used for pipes differ in various 
countries. Pipes are made of clay, porcelain, 
wood, metal, glass, ivory, horn, cane, bamboo, 
stone, etc. There is no know material which in 
the opinion of smokers equals genuine meer- 
schaum as a material for pipes. This is on ac- 
count of its lightness, its coolness, its absorbing 
qualities and its capabilities of high polish and 
assumption of a beautiful color when used from 
soaking the essential oils of the tobacco. Its 
friability, however, renders it more suitable for 
use as a home pipe than for a work-a-day pipe. 

For the work-a-day and knock-about pipe 
the wooden pipe with short stem is without a 
rival. The qualities which are essential for a 
wooden pipe are many and it is difficult if not 
impossible to get any material that will answer 
all of them. The wood for such a pipe must be 
hard and practically incombustible, yet light. 
It must be sapless and inodorous so that when 
heated the fragrance of the tobacco would not 
be mingled with that of the wood and be lost. 
In addition it must be a good absorber, cool 
and have beauty of grain and be susceptible of 
a high polish and must not be brittle. The 
wood known as briar root possesses these quali- 

154 



ties to a greater extent than any other wood 
known. It will be described in more detail later. 

Myall, a native Austrian wood of a very dark 
color, hard and of good grain has many excel- 
lent qualities for pipes, but is brittle. 

Maple, junipe and cherry and several other 
woods are used to a limited extent. 

Meerschaum 

Meerschaum is a light, porous, clayey sub- 
stance composed of magnesium, oxygen and 
silicon. It is chemically described as a hydrated 
silicate of magnesia and its chemical formula is 
Mg Sis 04 + 2H2O. 

The work meerschaum is composed of two 
German words, i. e., Meer, the sea; and Schaum, 
foam, and literally means "the foam of the 
sea." A popular belief being that the substance 
was petrified sea foam. 

The circumstances under which meerschaum 
came to be used for smoking pipes have already 
been detailed. Meerschaum occurs as a mineral 
more or less scattered all over the world, but 
the largest quantities and probably the best 
qualities occur in Asia Minor. In the United 
States, the mineral is found in South Carolina. 
Other mines occur in Spain, Greece and Moroc- 
co. The principal mines in Asia Minor are 
situated about 250 miles southwest of Constan- 

155 



tinople, on the plains of Eskishahr. Meer- 
schaum has been in use for sundry purposes in 
the Orient for many centuries aAd the mines of 
Asia Minor have been worked for at least 1,000 
years. The result is that they are now ap- 
proaching exhaustion. The area in which the 
mineral occurs principally is small, about six 
square miles, and in this area many thousands 
of pits are worked. The soil is alluvial and in 
these deposits the meerschaum is found in soft 
lumps and nodules having no definite or regular 
shape. It also occurs in veins among the Ser- 
pentine rocks and marls. Although it is soft 
when taken out of the ground it rapidly hardens 
when exposed to the air. It is roughly shaped 
and cleaned at the mines and from thence sent 
to the dealers who further prepare it by waxing 
and polishing and put it on the market in the 
conditions in which it reaches the pipe makers. 
The principal European depots for meerschaum 
are Constantinople and Vienna. It is usually 
packed in boxes containing about 50 lbs. each 
and sells for from 50c to $4.00 per lb. 

The lumps on reaching the manufacturers 
are first cut with a band saw into suitable sized 
blocks according to the size and shape of the 
pipes desired. These blocks are then thorough- 
ly soaked in water until they are thoroughly 
saturated. The soaking renders the material 

156 



soft and soapy and gives it the consistency of 
cheese, so that it is then easily shaped into the 
desired form which the pipe is to take. It is 
then dried and hardened again and on comple- 
tion the bowl is hollowed out and the stem 
drilled. If the pipe is a plain one without 
carving it is finished on a lathe and filed ready 
for polishing. It is also threaded for the mouth- 
piece. The pipe is then sent to the drying room 
for such time as is necessary to expel all mois- 
ture. The final treatment for the smoothing 
of the surface is done by fine sandpaper and 
other special substances, then immersing in 
melted white beeswax for three to five minutes 
and finally the giving of a high polish with 
precipitated chalk, cotton and flannel being the 
usual rubbing materials used. 

Meerschaum by its nature is particularly 
adapted for carving. The hand carving of such 
pipes requires artistic and dexterous craftsmen, 
who are experts in this particular class of work. 

There are various imitations of meerschaum. 
One is made from burnt gypsum soaked with 
lime in a solution of gum arabic. This forms a 
hard, creamy plaster and is capable of receiving 
a highly smooth and polished marble-like sur- 
face. 

Another form of imitation is made of a hard- 
ened plaster of Paris highly polished and tinted 

157 



in a solution of gamboge and dragon's blood, 
being afterwards treated with paraffin or stearic 
acid. All cheaper grades of meerschaum pipes, 
holders, etc., are made of this or similar com- 
pounds and it is very hard for the average 
smoker to distinguish them as the ordinary 
tests will not suffice. The absorption and color- 
ing qualities are about the same. Such imita- 
tions cost about half as much as the genuine 
article or even sometimes less. 

It should be added that the chips and dust re- 
sulting from the working of the genuine meer- 
schaum are bonded together with a solution and 
moulded and this is also sold as meerschaum. 

The number of genuine meerschaum pipes 
annually manufactured is probably much less 
than one-half a million, while there are probably 
three or four times as many imitations. 

Briar Root 
As we have seen briar root is found to be the 
most suitable wood for pipe smoking. The 
word briar is not named from wild briar. The 
word is a corruption of the French name La 
Bruyere, meaning the heather shrub of that 
name which grows along the Mediterranean 
coast of France, Spain and neighboring coun- 
tries. It is the root of this shrub which is the 
substance used. The shrub is especially cul- 

158 



tured for the purpose of pipe making; but the 
area in which the best briar root grows is very 
limited. It takes considerable time and the re- 
sult is that the supply of the most suitable wood 
is far below the demand. The cultivation of the 
briar root is a simple matter. It consists mere- 
ly in pruning the growth as much as possible 
so as to encourage and strengthen the roots. 

The very best qualities of briar root come 
from Corsica and the neighborhood of Leg- 
horn. It is very finely grained, hard and tough, 
does not char and heats slowly. 

When full grown and ready for the market 
the wood is rough sawn into blocks, varying in 
size from 3 inches square up, according to the 
market sizes required, and allowed to season. 
When fully seasoned the blocks are packed in 
boxes each containing from 200 to 300 of these 
blocks. They are then sent to the dealers or 
direct to the pipe factories as the case may be. 

In the factory the blocks are sorted and then 
undergo a sweating process in steam vats for 
ten to twelve hours. This steaming gives the 
wood the familiar brown-yellow tint of the 
natural briar root uncolored. After sweating 
the blocks are sent to the drying room as all 
traces of moisture must be removed. This 
usually takes several months. For pipe making 
the workman selects his block and roughly trims 

159 



it to size. It is then placed in the frazing ma- 
chine. This usually has three cutters revolving 
at very high speed, making several thousand 
revolutions per minute. The center cutter 
shapes out the block and the outer knives cut 
away the wood on the outside so as to form the 
block roughly into the shape of a pipe bowl and 
stem. This is then placed in a special lathe for 
cutting irregular forms. It is usual to fit in it 
a metal pattern of the particular shape chosen 
for the pipe. A circular cutting tool is set in 
motion and the briar block, which turns with 
the metal pattern, is mechanically cut to the 
exact shape of the pattern. After cutting, the 
pipe passes to the sandpapering machines where 
both inside and outside are thoroughly treated, 
and it gets a first polishing or smoothing on a 
pumice stone wheel. The next process is the 
boring of the stem which is done in a drilling 
machine by a steel wire having a cutting top 
rapidly turned by a lathe. The thread on the 
end of the stem for the mouthpiece is formed 
by a special machine. The pipe is then ready 
for polishers and finishers. It is first sand- 
papered four times, twice with rough and twice 
with fine on revolving wheels. Unless the wood 
is to be left its natural color, it is dropped into 
a vat of stain until it acquires the color desired. 
After drying it is ready for "buffing." A "buff" 

160 



is a wheel made of many layers of cloth, leather, 
etc., which revolves very rapidly. For pipe 
buffing these buffs are usually Tripoli buff, 
sheepskin buff, muslin and cotton flannel buff. 
The Tripoli takes off any sediment held by the 
edges of the grain. The sheepskin buff burns 
the color fast into the wood. The muslin and 
cotton bring out the grain and gives the wood 
its final delicate lustre and finish, which are 
done when the stem and mountings have been 
put on. The pipes are then ready for final 
stamping with name and packing. The process 
is much the same with all other hard woods. 
Pipe factories are found in most countries. 
French briar pipes are justly celebrated, but 
the American pipes are better made. 

Within recent years calabash has come into 
vogue to a large extent as a pipe making ma- 
terial. The calabash is a South African squash 
and has a special softness of flavor. The curved 
stem end of the calabash is used, being lined 
with plaster of Paris, and quite a large trade 
has sprung up in South Africa in growing 
calabash for the pipe trade, the principal point 
being Cape Town. 

The Pipe Stem 
It is very important that suitable material be 
selected for the mouthpiece of the pipe. In fact 

161 



from many points of view the mouthpiece is the 
most important part of the pipe for the smoker, 
because damage to the lips must be particularly 
avoided, and a defective, rough, or badly made 
mouthpiece is apt to cause damage. There are 
three very important qualities which the ma- 
terial must have: (1) It must be hard enough 
to resist indentation from the teeth and yet 
not feel gritty. (2) It must be capable of re- 
ceiving a perfectly smooth surface and of re- 
taining it under the action of saliva. (3) It 
must not be a rapid heater so that it will not 
burn the lips, or crack or splinter under action 
of heat. Other very desirable qualities are 
toughness, beauty of appearance and freedom 
from taste or odor under all circumstances of 
use. 

Amber has a unique place in fulfilling these 
conditions. Amber is a fossil gum or resin, the 
juice of pine trees, which in course of time has 
become petrified like coal. 

Amber is found is various parts of the world, 
but is more plentifully found along the sand}^ 
shores of East Prussia bordering on the Baltic 
Sea. This area was in time long past the site 
of pine forests. The amber is found very often 
to occur with lignite or brown coal. It is dug 
out of the cliffs or mined like coal out of the 
ground. Sometimes it is washed in from the 

162 



sea. In size it varies from the size of a pea to 
lumps as large as an orange. When first dug 
up it is usually of a pale yellow color, but this 
becomes darker on exposure. The manufacture 
of commercial amber is a government monopoly 
in Prussia. The pieces are all melted down at a 
temperature of about 550° F., and then after 
purification it is cast into slabs about y^ inch 
to 1% inches thick and four inches to eight 
inches long, in which form it is sold to dealers. 
There are two qualities, opaque and transpar- 
ent, the opaque being the tougher. The cost 
varies considerably, the inferior kinds being 
sold for $2.00 per pound, and the finest speci- 
mens cost up to $60.00 per pound. 

By far the largest quantity of amber used for 
ordinary pipes is imitation amber. The manu- 
facture of this is a trade secret. It is so good 
and fulfills its purpose so well that only experts 
can distinguish it from genuine amber. There 
are many substitutes for amber. 

Good vulcanite, except for the matter of ap- 
pearance is little inferior to amber as mouth- 
piece material. Cut vulcanite is cool and 
smooth, but moulded vulcanite is liable to be 
rough to the lips and should be avoided. Vul- 
canite mouthpieces are usually sold already 
finished direct to the pipe makers. 

163 



Except for the matter of brittleness unglazed 
clay is a most excellent pipe stem. Clay is 
usually cool and very absorbent of the acrid 
oils occurring in the distillation of tobacco. 
When the end of a clay stem is protected by a 
rubber band, it forms a very good mouthpiece. 
Bone and other materials are also used as 
mouthpieces. Ebonite is used, but is objec- 
tionable because it spoils the flavor of the to- 
bacco. Celluloid is a dangerous substance and 
should not be used as a pipe stem. 

The smoker should avoid biting the mouth- 
piece as it roughens it. It is far better to dis- 
card a mouthpiece when it becomes indented, 
rough or worn in any way. A damaged mouth- 
piece should on no account be used when the 
lips are chapped or lacerated because the irrita- 
tion may, if continued, lead to ulceration and 
tobacco juice is not beneficial to skin lesions. 

Special Pipes 
German pipes are, as might be expected, the 
most correct in scientific principle. The pipe 
has two bowls the upper of which is for the 
tobacco. This fits into a socket which allows 
the oils and aqueous solutions due to the dis- 
tillation to pass into the lower bowl, very little 
getting into the stem. The bowls are usually 
of porcelain and the long curved stem is of wood 
mostly cherry. 

164 



The Dutch pipe is similar to the German ex- 
cept that the stem is long and straight which 
allows the bowl to rest on the ground. The 
German pipe is usually held in the hand by the 
lower bowl. In Turkey and Oriental countries 
the water pipe is used. This form of pipe 
originated in Persia. The pipe consists of a 
receptacle for the tobacco, which has a perfo- 
rated bottom. This holder fits into a cup from 
which a hollow tube leads into a jar containing 
water. The tube passes through the stopper of 
the jar and descends almost to the bottom of 
the water. Another tube, the inhaling tube, 
also passes through the stopper of the jar, but 
does not reach to the surface of the water. On 
drawing through the inhaler a vacuum is created 
in the air space above the surface of the water 
in the jar which induces suction through the 
other tube below the water level. The smoke 
therefore bubbles through the water and is 
cooled before it reaches the mouth of the 
smoker. It, however, requires a considerable 
amount of effort to draw the smoke through. 

Water pipes are used extensively among the 
batter classes of the East. Some of them are 
very gorgeous affairs, the bowls being of the 
richest crystal and the fittings gold or silver set 
with gems. Sometimes they have several smok- 
ing tubes so as to accommodate more than one 

165 



smoker. The water pipe used by the Shah of 
Persia is said to be worth $400,000.00. 

In Turkey the water pipe is known by the 
name of Hookak. In Egypt it is called Nar- 
geeleh (or Narghile) because the water vessel 
is usually a cocoa nut for which the Arabic 
name is Na'rghee'leh. The Hookak usually 
stands on the floor and is ponderous, with many 
smoking tubes. The Nargeeleh is a hand pipe. 

In Eastern countries, however, besides the 
water pipe the ordinary clay bowl pipe is used 
to a very large extent, being fitted with a wooden 
stem from 3 to 5 feet in length. All these pipes 
are essentially home pipes, as it is not habitual 
with the Eastern people to smoke except when 
seated. 

In China both sexes commonly smoke pipes — 
a water pipe made of brass is usually smoked 
by the richer classes. The poorer classes use a 
clay pipe with a bamboo stem. 

The principal importation into the United 
States of foreign made pipes and smokers' 
articles is from Austria, England and Germany. 
The latest government statistics show that from 
England $278,000, from Austria about $280,- 
000, and from Germany about $139,000 worth 
of such goods are annually imported. These 
are principally pipes. Cigarette paper, briar 
root, etc., are not included in these figures, 

166 



The total importation value in 1912 (exclusive 
of duty) from Europe was $1,478,000. 

The Care of Pipes 
An experienced smoker lays down the follow- 
ing rules for the care of pipes. The rules apply 
whether a man uses one or half a dozen pipes: 

(1) When a pipe is used for the first time 
wipe out the bowl with a cloth. Then thorough- 
ly wet or dampen it. Before the moisture 
evaporates fill the pipe. Light evenly and be 
careful not to burn the rim with the lighted 
match. The tobacco being damp next the wood 
will not redden there, hence the wood will not 
char but a sooty film will form. 

(2) Ashes should be allowed to remain in 
the pipe till thoroughly cooled. Then emptied. 
The object of this is to allow the liquid residue 
to soak into the pores of the new wood. 

(3) Do not scrape the inner surface of the 
bowl. The thin coating of carbon (the "cake") 
which is formed on it is a nonconductor of heat 
and prevents the wood from overheating or 
cracking. It keeps the pipe cool and is a good 
absorber. 

(4) After half a dozen smokes the rule of re- 
moving the ashes should be reversed. They 
should be removed promptly after smoking. 
Blow through the mouthpiece after smoking. 

167 



By this time the inner surface of bowl is suf- 
ficiently soaked and coated and continuation 
makes it acrid and sodden. 

(5) Always allow your pipe to cool and dry 
before resmoking. Use pipe cleaners and pipe 
spoon for cleaning. When the "cake" becomes 
too thick part of it may be removed but always 
leave a layer next the wood. Be careful not to 
scrape the surface of the bowl. 

(6) A pipe should not be used continuously 
for more than a few weeks or a month. It 
should then be cleaned and allowed rest unused 
for a while. It is well to allow it to hang where 
the sunlight can play on it. Acrid matters will 
dry out and the pipe will be sweet when smoked 
again. It is a good plan to pack the bottom 
of the bowl with powdered chalk when it is 
resting. 

When a pipe tastes acrid it requires more 
than ordinary cleaning. If one has the oppor- 
tunity a most excellent way is to blow steam 
through it, first removing the mouthpiece. An- 
other way recommended by a smoker who says 
it is most efficacious is to fit a cork into the 
bowl of the pipe. Make a hole in the cork, into 
which the nozzle of a soda siphon will fit snugly. 
Direct the mouthpiece into some emptying ves- 
sel and force about a wine glass of the soda 

168 



water from the siphon through the pipe. It 
will clean it out effectively. 

If you are smoking a meerschaum and desire 
it to color well and evenly it is a good plan to 
use a false upper bowl to fit inside the bowl of 
your pipe. The rim of fire where the tobacco 
is burning makes the pipe bowl too hot and does 
not allow that part to color. The false bowl 
will prevent this. Some smokers think that 
covering a meerschaum bowl with chamois will 
cause it to color well. The chamois will not 
aid the coloring but it will protect the bowl 
from being touched by the hand during the 
process and thus avoiding a spotty effect, par- 
ticularly if the hand should be moist or greasy. 
During the progress of the coloring the pipe 
should never be allowed to get too hot. The 
time required to color a pipe depends on the 
tobacco used. If it is a rich oily tobacco, the 
time necessary is shorter than with a dry to- 
bacco. 

Imitation meerschaum of the cheaper kind 
are sometimes artificially colored by the makers. 
This is done by boiling the pipe in an oily solu- 
tion of nicotine, the formula for which as given 
in the Ainerican Druggist, V. 58, is : 

Crude nicotine (oil of tobacco) =.3 i. 

Olive oil=o ii. 

Yellow wax=o viii. 

169 



The pipe is kept in the boiling solution from 
10 to 15 minutes and rapidly absorbs it. The 
surface is capable of a high polish. 

REFERENCES 

Penn, W. a. The Soverane Herbe: a History of 
Tobacco. London and New York^ 1901. 

Fairholt, F. W. Tobacco; its History and As- 
sociations. London, 1876. 



170 



CHAPTER XVII 

EFFECTS OF TOBACCO SMOKING ON 
THE HUMAN SYSTEM 

Physical effects. Opinions of medical men 
quoted and discussed 



171 



EFFECTS OF TOBACCO SMOKING ON 
THE HUMAN SYSTEM 

It is a matter of very great importance for 
the user of tobacco that he should have clear 
information regarding the beneficial and harm- 
ful effects of tobacco on the human mind and 
body. There are very few matters which have 
been the subject of such varied opinions; such 
exaggeration and misconception. Those who 
are opposed to the use of tobacco have not 
hesitated to ascribe to it every form of evil, 
physical, mental and moral. Insanity, epilepsy, 
cancer, malignant throat disease, blindness, 
heart disease and a host of other diseased con- 
ditions are traced to tobacco smoking by its 
enemies. On the other hand the users of to- 
bacco are scarcely less vehement in holding that 
no harmful effects follow, but ascribing all 
kinds of virtue as resulting from its use. It is 
not our object in this chapter to justify or 
recommend the use, or to advise the avoidance 
of tobacco ; we think it is a matter that the in- 
dividual should decide for himself. Moreover, 
we think that no general rules governing all 
cases can be laid down, but that each individual 
must judge for himself whether the use of to- 
bacco is justified in his own particular case or 
not, taking into consideration all the circum- 

173 



stances that aiFect him. The important thing 
is that he should possess clear and correct in- 
formation with regard to the effects of tobacco 
as far as such have been scientifically deter- 
mined; and from the observation of its effects 
on his own organism to determine whether in 
his own case the practice is beneficial or other- 
wise and to what extent it may be pursued if 
he desires to smoke. 

We, therefore, purpose to submit the facts 
which have been determined by the most careful 
scientific investigators and others of high stand- 
ing, who, from their experience in the investiga- 
tion of the causes of disease, are best qualified 
to offer opinions which may be accepted as 
authoritative. 

A perusal of the vast amount of literature 
both for and against the use of tobacco brings 
out certain points very largely. First, in the 
case of the opponents, the most sweeping state- 
ments are made without a particle of scientific 
proof in support of them, by persons who are in 
no way qualified to make such statements. 
Statistics are quoted most recklessly and ac- 
cepted as conclusive, although in most cases 
there is no logical connection between the mat- 
ter of the statistics and the absolute effects of 
tobacco. If there is a question of a certain 
condition, it is not suflScient to show that the 

174 



person suffering from it was a user of tobacco 
and to allege, therefore, that tobacco was the 
cause of the condition. It must be shown con- 
clusively that no other circumstances than the 
use of tobacco could have caused this condition. 
Dr. T. W. Jenkins, of Albany, N. Y., (New 
York Medical Journal, 1915, V. 102, p. 355), 
who was awarded a prize by this leading medical 
journal for his essay on tobacco smoking says: 
"The first thing to bear in mind is that con- 
sidering the large amount of tobacco used very 
little harm results, and care should be taken 
not to incriminate tobacco when the troubles 
under observation may be due to other causes." 
Secondly, among the investigators themselves 
who have made impartial inquiries about the 
effects of tobacco, there is sometimes a wide dif- 
ference of opinion in the interpretation of re- 
sults and in the relation of cause and effect. 
Thus most varied opinions exist on the subject 
of nicotine. The result is that it is difficult for 
the average man to come to a satisfactory con- 
clusion on the subject; for it cannot be said 
that the scientific knowledge of the effects of 
tobacco smoking on the human system as pre- 
sented to us today is final or sufliciently well 
determined to enable definite and true conclu- 
sions to be arrived at. 

175 



Thirdly, there is the widespread error of 
ascribing the evils of the abuses of tobacco to 
the use of tobacco. This matter of the use and 
abuse of tobacco cannot be put too clearly. 
Most medical investigators have based their 
results clearly on the excessive use of tobacco. 
It is a very rare thing to find a medical investi- 
gator drawing attention to any harmful results 
following the moderate use of tobacco, and it 
appears a just statement to make that the 
majority of men use tobacco in moderation. It 
appears to be true that excessive smoking is 
harmful and is capable of producing deleterious 
effects on the respiratory and nervous systems 
in man, but it has never been scientifically 
proved that the moderate use of tobacco has any 
particularly harmful effects. Moreover, it is 
well-known to the medical profession and so 
stated constantly that in many cases where the 
use of tobacco has produced bad effects on the 
eye, nerves, etc., its use is contra-indicated, ow- 
ing to the condition of the subject due to other 
causes and that such results would not occur 
in a normally healthy subject. Therefore, be- 
cause tobacco when used excessively or when 
used by persons who are not constitutionally 
fitted for it, produces bad effects, it is not 
logical to argue, as many opponents of tobacco 

176 



smoking do, that the use of tobacco is univer- 
sally harmful. 

Fourthly, the conclusions arrived at by some 
investigators, are based on experiments made 
on animals, and it appears quite open to criti- 
cism, and is in fact disproved by common ex- 
perience, that such results will follow when ap- 
plied to m.an. Hinging on this is the question 
of immunity and toleration. The human system 
will easily after use tolerate effects which at 
first it rebels against. This may easily be seen 
in muscular and other efforts. Let a man who 
is constantly leading a sedentary life suddenly 
walk 10 miles. The result is almost prostration 
and he will not recover from it for a consider- 
able time. Let him, however, commence by 
walking a mile or two and gradually at each 
walk increase the distance, and in a short while 
he will be able to walk 10 miles without feeling 
any fatigue. Similarly running or other rapid 
exercise to a person not used to it will produce 
such rapid disturbances in the respiration and 
circulation as even to be fatal, while the sea- 
soned athlete may perform such feats without 
the least ill effects. 

To take animals or persons who have never 
before used tobacco and to argue or conclude 
that the effects of tobacco smoke on them are 
the effects of tobacco on smokers generally is 

177 



absurd. Yet such experimental results are very 
often made the basis of denunciation of tobacco 
smoking. 

Finally most investigators have made their 
inquiries for the exclusive purpose of discover- 
ing the evil effects of tobacco smoking. They 
proceed to their work with a biassed mind. 
They have already assumed that the habit is 
harmful and they simply want to find out how 
much harm they can discover. They are pre- 
judiced from the beginning. It is to this class 
of investigator that Dr. John Aikman refers to 
(New York Medical Journal, Oct. 30, 1915), 
when he says : "In reading the literature on the 
use of tobacco we are impressed by the fact that 
much of it is written by persons greatly op- 
posed to the use of the plant, and naturally 
prejudiced." It is quite conceivable that a man 
may investigate the evil effects which follow 
from wearing clothes and shoes and he could 
undoubtedly find some evil effects ; but the users 
of such articles could very justly say that the 
beneficial results of such habits more than out- 
weighed the demonstrated harm that might 
occur. And then the user of tobacco might say 
that the beneficial effects of smoking more than 
compensated for any slight harm that may hap- 
pen. For tobacco has undoubtedly many excel- 
lent effects, and no one knows this better than 

178 



the smoker himself. He will readily admit that 
excess is bad. He will readily admit that the 
use of tobacco is not suitable to immature per- 
sons, or in fact to many other persons, but he 
insist that in the majority of cases, it is not 
only practically harmless but that it has many 
desirable qualities, for that is proved by his 
own experience and the experience of millions 
of other smokers in all ages and under all con- 
ditions. 

We will now proceed to consider some of the 
effects which have been ascribed to tobacco 
smoking and give expressed opinions concern- 
ing them. 

Physical Effects of Tobacco Smoking 
The principal deleterious effects on the hu- 
man system ascribed to the use of tobacco are : 

(a) Throat diseases. 

(b) Disturbance of vision. 

(c) Heart troubles (smokers' heart). 

(d) Disturbance of the digestive organs 
(dyspepsia, etc.). 

(e) Disturbance of the nervous system. 

(f) Disturbance of nutrition. 

As regards (a) throat diseases, the following 
is the opinion of Dr. H. Reik of the Johns Hop- 
kins University, surgeon to the Baltimore Eye, 
Ear and Throat Hospital, as expressed by him 

179 



in the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, 
Vol. 162, p. 856, 1910: 

"There is not one scintilla of evidence that 
malignant disease of the throat is due in any 
way to the use of tobacco ; and if it be admitted 
that carcinoma (cancer) of the lip or tongue 
has been produced by smoking, it is clearly 
not tobacco, but traumatism (i. e., injury) from 
the stems of the pipe or other tobacco con- 
tainer that is responsible. 

"It does not appear or at least has not been 
proven that tobacco causes any definite charac- 
teristic lesions of the nose, throat or ear." 

Dr. Reik is a man of high standing in the 
medical profession. His opinion is clear and 
unmistakable and it is presumed he has seen 
thousands of cases of nose and throat diseases 
and knows what he is talking about. 

Dr. Reik refers to the question of so-called 
smokers' cancer. Cancer is a disease which at- 
tacks all kinds of people and may occur in 
widely different parts of the body. The causa- 
tion of this disease is not known to the medical 
profession but what is known about it is that it 
usually occurs on the site of some previous in- 
jury. Thus cancer may occur on the tongue 
as the result of the constant irritation of a 
jagged broken tooth. 

180 



Dr. I. C. Bloodgood (Boston Medical and 
Surgical Journal, No. 2, 1914), who has ex- 
amined 200 cases of lip cancer says that smok- 
ing is a common factor, the disease when occur- 
ing being usually on the site of a neglected and 
ulcerated smoker's burn. The burn may be a 
charring of the skin due to a very hot pipe stem 
or burning cigar stem. He says, moreover, 
that if the burn is not continued and there is no 
other injury, this defect may heal without evi- 
dence of ulceration. 

Similarly a cancer may be the result of con- 
tinual use of a broken or rough pipe stem or 
from using a pirty pipe stem on a broken skin. 
All these are clearly matters which the average 
smoker easily and usually avoids. It is, how- 
ever, clear that tobacco itself is in no way 
responsible for cancer, and no responsible 
medical writer on the subject alleges that it is. 

Most of the medical writers who have in- 
scribed injurious physical effects on the nerv- 
ous system, heart and sense organs, to excessive 
tobacco smoking have stated that these effects 
are due to the toxic action of the alkaloid 
nicotine known to exist in tobacco. There is 
a wide difference, however, in the results ob- 
tained by different writers as to the amount of 
the nicotine in tobacco which finds its way with 
the tobacco smoke. Moreover, some of the in- 

181 



vestigators who have done very careful work do 
not consider that nicotine is the toxic element, 
but the substance called pyridine which is de- 
rived from it. 

Dr. Bush (quoted below) referring to this 
matter says: 

"From a review of the literature it would ap- 
pear that extensive studies had been made as to 
the effects on living organisms of the alkaloid, 
nicotine. From such studies a great number 
of writers, especially laymen, have adopted the 
hasty conclusion that tobacco smoking entailed 
like results. 

"Comparatively few studies have been made 
of the effects of tobacco smoking on human be- 
ings ; and such as have been made fail to state 
if the tobacco used or the smoke produced was 
examined for nicotine or its congeners. The 
absence of an examination necessarily causes 
some doubt in the causative faction of the 
phenomena. Some authors are rather inclined 
to conclude that nicotine alone is the pathogenic 
factor in tobacco smoking, but since the pres- 
ence of nicotine per se in tobacco smoke is de- 
batable and since other toxic substances are 
demonstrable, it would seem as if the whole sub- 
ject still remained open for investigation." 

The nicotine contained in ordinary tobacco, 
according to many authors, ranges from about 

182 



1 to 8 or 9 per cent. Lee's investigation {Jour- 
nal of Physiology, 1908, p. 335) found that 
about half of the total nicotine was present in 
the smoke — according to Lee the pyridin seemed 
to be entirely without influence. 

Lehmann (Archiv filr Hygiene, 1909, p. 319) 
found that from 80 to 90% of the total nicotine 
in a cigar or cigarette was to be found in the 
smoke. He found also that in the case of cigars 
about 10 to 18% of the nicotine in the smoke 
is absorbed by the smoker and that cigarette 
smoke absorbed by the smoker contains a less 
proportion of the nicotine in the tobacco than 
is the case with cigars. The general opinion 
is, however, that about one-seventh of the nico- 
tine in the tobacco will be found in the smoke. 

Entirely at variance with these results are 
those obtained recently by A. D. Bush, M.D., 
Instructor of Physiology in the University of 
Vermont (New York Medical Journal, March 
14, 1914), and those obtained in the laboratory 
investigation by the London Laucet. Bush 
made long and extensive investigations on the 
effects of tobacco smoking and criticised the 
results of previous workers. He shows very 
clearly that in many cases the conclusions 
drawn by them as regards nicotine contained in 
tobacco smoke are either entirely erroneous or 
that the deductions made from the investiga- 

183 



tions were not warranted by the facts observed. 
He points out the fact that most writers on the 
subject have overlooked the fact of the great 
discrepancy between the possible effects aris- 
ing from the administration of the amount of 
nicotine in a cigar and the actual effect pro- 
duced on the smoker of the cigar. He asks this 
pertinent question : "If a cigar contains 0.085 
grains nicotine, and if one-seventh of the nico- 
tine of the tobacco is present in the smoke and 
if but .004 grains is capable of causing death, 
why does the smoker not absorb enough nicotine 
to cause his demise.'^" 

As a result of his careful experiments, Bush 
found that although nicotine was present in all 
the samples of tobacco tested there was no 
nicotine whatever found in the smoke, except 
in the case of cigarettes and in this case onl}'^ 
traces were found. The reason of this is given 
as due to the rapid burning of the cigarette 
which did not allow sufficient time for the com- 
plete decomposition of the nicotine. Pyridine 
was, however, found in the smoke of all tobacco 
burned. Pyridine is only one-twentieth as 
toxic as nicotine. Bush concluded, therefore, 
that pyridine and not nicotine is the toxic fac- 
tor in tobacco smoke. The same fact was stated 
several years ago by Rideal (Disinfection and 
Preservation of Food, London and New York, 

184 



1903, p. 254), who says: "Tobacco smoke, 
contrary to popular belief, does not contain 
nicotine, which is decomposed by the heat ; 
but pyridine and its homologues and the bene- 
ficial effects of tobacco in many cases of asthma 
must be attributed to this latter." 

The Lancet investigation (see Lancet, Ap. 6, 
1912, pp. 944-947) was mode because "a recent 
review of numerous analysis of tobacco which 
have been published from time to time raises 
some doubt as to whether the results given cor- 
rectly represent the actual alkaloidal contents 
of the tobacco." Moreover, to find the relation- 
ship of the true amount of nicotine in an}^ 
tobacco to that in the smoke produced by the 
combustion of that tobacco, and any modifica- 
tion caused by the method of smoking. 

The investigation was conducted under the 
strictest conditions, the most recent methods of 
chemical research being employed. 

The following table (given by the Lancet) 
shows the nicotine contents of various tobacco 
samples and the percentage of nicotine in the 
smoke : 



185 



4) (U « 



Description of ^«^^ ^^S 

Tobacco. "S-g ccX "Sc^ 

P-i (^ P-i 

Virginian Cigarettes (Sample 1) ., 1.40 0.74 0.12 

Virginian Cigarettes (Sample 2) .. 1.60 0.60 0.06 

Caporal (French) Tobacco 2.60 2.20 0.95 

Turkish Cigarettes 1.38 .... 0.51 

Egyptian Cigarettes 1.74 0.21 

Pipe Smoking Mixture (1) 2.85 2.20 2.25 

Pipe Smoking Mixture (2) 2.81 1.53 

Pipe Smoking Mixture (3) 2.04 0.23 

Perique Tobacco 5.30 1.27 0.57 

Cavendish Tobacco 4.15 3.85 

Latakia Tobacco 2.35 1.20 

Havana Cigar 0.64 0.20 

From this analysis it appears that pipe mix- 
tures contain the largest amount of nicotine in 
the tobacco (2.04-2.85%). Egyptian and 
Turkish cigarette tobaccos come next (1.38- 
1.74%). Virginian cigarette tobacco shows 
similar figures (1.40-1.60%). French tobacco 
(Caporal) contains 2.60%, and Perique 5.30%. 
For all practical purposes the tobaccos con- 
sumed by the public according to this report 
seldom contain more than 3% of nicotine and 
generally less, the average being about 2%, 
which is much lower than previous writers lead 
us to expect. 

The cigarette, whether Egyptian, Turkish 
or American, yields the least amount of its total 

186 



nicotine to the smoke formed, while the pipe 
yields a very large portion (in some cases be- 
tween 70 and 80%) of its nicotine to the smoke. 
Analysis of cigar smoke gives figures midway 
between the two. 

With the results of Bush and the Lancet 
before him the user of tobacco will be better 
able to judge of the opinions of those who des- 
cribe the effects of nicotine on the vision, heart, 
digestive organs, etc., as likely to be the results 
of tobacco smoking. 

Thus the disturbance of vision ascribed to 
tobacco smoking is called tobacco amblyopia. 

Dr. W. S. Franklin of San Francisco (Calif. 
State Jour, of Med., 1909, V. 7, p. 85), says 
that to produce this disease it is necessary to 
smoke daily from .75 to 1.0 gms. of pure nico- 
tine. If 17% of the nicotine of tobacco is car- 
ried in the smoke, in order to absorb that quan- 
tity 7 or 8 cheap domestic cigars, 10 or 11 
Cubans or 60 cigarettes should be smoked. Now 
very few smokers consume this amount and ac- 
cording to Bush, and the Lancet, and others 
there is no such percentage of nicotine in the 
smoke. 

To the use of tobacco is ascribed an acid 
dyspepsia — this, however, is noticed more par- 
ticularly in habitual chewers and in this case 
the nicotine not being burnt has no chance of 

187 



being decomposed. All writers have agreed that, 
chewing is the worst way that tobacco can be 
used. Dr. R. V. Dolbey says: {Northwest 
Medicine, 1909, V. 1 p. 99). 

"In chewing, quantities of watery extract of 
tobacco are swallowed and taken down with 
the food containing a large percentage of nico- 
tine and causing severe dyspepsia. While to- 
bacco juice solution in the laboratory kills in- 
testinal bacteria, excessive tobacco chewing 
does not have this effect on the human body 
owing to the fact that the gastric and pan- 
creatic juices act on it and alter it." 

Dr. I. S. Gilfilian discusses the effects of to- 
bacco on the heart in the St. Paul Medical 
Journal, July, 1912, p. 338. He says that the 
important part whether organic changes in the 
cardio-vascular system may be produced by 
tobacco is still doubtful, and that it has never 
been shown that smokers suffer more from or- 
ganic heart disease than nonsmokers. 

General opinion is that smoking lessens the 
pulse rate and slightly increases the blood pres- 
sure, and that it is a cause of arterio-sclerosis. 

With regard to arterio-sclerosis. Dr. A. Lor- 
and of Carlsbad who is a world-wide authority 
on the effects of toxic substances on the blood, 
says in his book, Old, Age Deferred (English 
translation, 1910, p. 367) : 

188 



"Clinically we have observed the great fre- 
quency of arterio-sclerosis in great smokers, but 
we do not think that two or three light cigars 
a day, but never before meals, can do any harm 
save in exceptional cases. Indeed there are a 
few instances of persons living to be over 100, 
notwithstanding the fact that they were 
smokers — a fact contrary to the observation 
of Hufeland who pretends that he never heard 
of such a case. The famous English painter. 
Frith, who died in October, 1909, used to smoke 
6 cigars a day, and Mr. F. of Chartres, in 
France, passed last year his 100th birthday in 
spite of his having taken snuff all his life." 

If there were any serious lesions caused in the 
human system by the continued use of tobacco 
we might naturally expect that life insurance 
companies would take notice of it, but hear 
what they have to say {Medical Record, New 
York, July 12, 1913) : 

Dr. H. G. Turney, at the meeting of Life 
Insurance Medical Officers Association, London, 
January, 1913, said that as far as observation 
and study of the literature went he did not con- 
sider that there was much evidence that the 
habit of smoking can be convicted of any seri- 
ous effect on the mortality table. One must 
confess rather to a feeling of surprise that the 
life-long absorption of so potent a drug as 

189 



nicotine by a large proportion of the male 
population should not be accompanied by more 
obvious results in the way of serious injury to 
the cardiac muscle than appears to be the case. 

Dr. A. Marvin of the Department of Pharma- 
cology, Vermont University, made numerous ex- 
periments on the effects produced by tobacco. 
In the cases of the respiratory system, he states 
that in rapid smoking the respiratory rate is 
increased, due more to the effort than to the 
drug. In deliberate smoking there is very little 
effect. In the digestive system the effects pro- 
duced were, increased flow of saliva and stimula- 
tion of the mucous membrane of the stomach 
and intestines. Marvin did not find any import- 
ant symptoms of systemic irregularities except 
where there was excessive use of tobacco. He 
says : "Tobacco produces, when used to excess, 
symptoms in a very small per cent and often it 
is only one factor in producing the conditions 
observed." A very cautiously expressed and 
noncommittal opinion. 

It is to be remembered that of the percentage 
of nicotine in tobacco smoke only a small por- 
tion is drawn into the smoker's system. The 
greater part passes off again in the smoke 
passed out; also that the products of combus- 
tion of tobacco include acqueous solution as 

190 



well as smoke ; it will not probably be questioned 
that some of this watery solution is drawn into 
the mouth as well as the smoke and probably 
contains minute quantities of nicotine or its 
derivatives. 

The smoker may obviate any slight harmful 
effects of these substances by care. If he is a 
cigar smoker he must avoid chewing or sucking 
the butt end of the cigar in which the acqueous 
solution finally gathers, and he would find it 
better to smoke long thin cigars which afford 
a small area behind the burning point for the 
collection of acqueous vapor and give a better 
combustion. Judged from these viewpoints the 
best and most expensive thick cigar is likely to 
be more harmful than the very worst kind of a 
cigarette, for although there may be a much 
smaller percentage of nicotine in the cigar to- 
bacco, a much larger proportion of it may reach 
the mouth of the smoker through the water pro- 
duced by combustion, in the case of the cigar 
than in the case of the cigarette. 

Every cigar and cigarette smoker should use 
a holder for the reason stated. The cigarette 
from the nicotine point of view is the least ob- 
jectionable form of smoking. In fact expert 
opinion is recognizing that unless where the 
smoke is inhaled cigarette smoking if not ex- 
cessive is probably harmless. It is hard, of 

191 



course, to kill a popular prejudice, but we have 
to deal with demonstrated facts not prejudices. 
In the case of inhalation of cigarette smoke the 
danger is from carbon monoxide gas and not 
from nicotine. 

When the difference of opinion amongst 
authoritative investigators are discounted their 
general results will be found to agree very well 
with the general facts observed by all users of 
tobacco. What they see is that probably 
seventy per cent of the adult male population 
under all conditions and circumstances use to- 
bacco within limits of moderation. They see 
around them men who have for many years 
used it, and they do not observe any particular 
harmful results in the user of tobacco compared 
with the nonuser. Men as a rule are not more 
nervous, more subject to heart troubles or age 
troubles than women, who as a sex, do not use 
tobacco. Smokers do not deny and never have 
denied that the abuse of tobacco is harmful. 

The general view that both scientific investi- 
gators and popular observation is able to sup- 
port is well expressed by Clouston, who is a 
world known authority on nervous and mental 
disease. (See Hygiene of Mind, 3rd Ed. Lon- 
don, 1906, p. 260.) 

"If its use is restricted to full grown men, if 
only good tobacco is used not of too great 

192 



strength, and if it is not used to excess, then 
there are no scientific proofs that it has any 
injurious effects, if there is no idiosyncracy 

against it Speaking generally, it 

exercises a. soothing influence when the nervous 
system is in any way irritable. It tends to calm 
and continuous thinking and in many men pro- 
motes the digestion of food. 

"Tobacco, properly used may, in some cases, 
undoubtedly be made a mental hygienie." 

Mann {Brit. Med. Journal, 1908, V. II, p. 
1673), expresses a similar opinion thus : "Most 
men if they choose to smoke can do so within 
certain limits without injury to health. Some 
men can exceed such limits with apparent im- 
punity. The extent of the limitation must be 
determined by each man for himself." 



19s 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE BENEFICIAL EFFECTS OF 
TOBACCO 

Its disinfecting action. Protection against 

infectious disease. psychological 

effects of smoking. 



195 



THE BENEFICIAL QUALITIES OF 
TOBACCO 

In the previous chapters the possible harm- 
ful effects of using tobacco have been dealt with 
at length. In this chapter we shall deal shortly 
with some positive beneficial effects. 

There is very little doubt that tobacco is a 
strongly protective agent against infection 
from disease. Its germicidal qualities are well- 
known and recognized. It is now recognized by 
medical writers that the mouth is one of the 
principal, if not the principal channel of in- 
fection for many infective diseases. The cavi- 
ties of the teeth are the breeding places of hosts 
of pathogenic bacteria, of which there are about 
100 different varieties arising from decaying 
food and other sources. These destructive 
agents, many of them highly pathogenic, easily 
find their way from the mouth through various 
channels to the inside of the body. Many in- 
fective organisms floating in the air are drawn 
into the mouth in the act of respiration and this 
is a common method of falling a victim to con- 
tagion. 

The effect of tobacco juice on the bacteria of 
the human mouth was investigated by Dr. W. 
D. Fullerton and is reported by him in the 
Cleveland Med, Journal 1912, page 585. 

197 



In his experiments Fullerton used tobacco 
juice obtained from the human mouth by chew- 
ing plug tobacco. He also used a solution of 
smoke obtained from a well seasoned pipe. 
These were first thoroughly sterilized in order 
to obtain a pure natural mixture of tobacco 
and saliva. Cultures of well-known species of 
bacteria were made using every laboratory pre- 
caution so as to obtain accurate results. 
Specimens of these bacterial cultures were then 
submitted to the action of the tobacco juice. 
It was found that exposure for one hour killed 
or rendered innocuous 15 to 98 per cent of the 
bacteria; exposure for 24 hours acted similarly 
on from 84 to 100%. Dr. Fullerton gives his 
opinion, from his results, that it seems that a 
pipeful of tobacco was more toxic to bacteria 
than one chew; but chewing tends to loosen 
retained food particles, foci of bacteria, etc., 
and much of this is ejected from the mouth. 
Fullerton's work agreed very well with the re- 
sults obtained by other workers in the same line 
of investigation. In Miller's Micro-organisms 
of the Human Mouth, p. 246, it is stated that 
the organisms of the mouth lead only a miser- 
able existence in a mixture of an infusion of 
tobacco, sugar and saliva; and that the smoke 
of the last one-third or the first one-fourth of a 
Colorado Claro cigar sterilized ten cubic centi- 

198 



meters of beef extract solution which had been 
richly inoculated with bacteria from decayed 
teeth. Arnold, Lancet (London, 1907) re- 
ports similar experiences with some of the most 
virulent types of infective bacteria. 

Both nicotine and its derivative pyridine as 
well as the tarry oils resulting from tobacco 
distillation are strong and effective disinfect- 
ants ; and formaldehyde, one of the most power- 
ful germicides known, is so formed. Trillat, 
Annales de VInstitut Pasteur (Paris), Vol. 19, 
p. 722, shows that 100 grams of pipe tobacco 
will yield .063 grams and 100 grams weight of 
cigar .118 grams of formaldehyde. Also that 
a dilution of 1/1000 formaldehyde is germicidal 
to all bacteria although it has very little dele- 
terious effects on man. 

As far as can be ascertained there has not 
been very much investigation for the purpose of 
demonstrating the actual results of clinical ex- 
perience regarding the antiseptic qualities of 
tobacco in the case of smokers, but facts, so 
far as they have been recorded, bear out the 
experiments. Rideal Disinfection and Preser- 
vation of Food (London and New York, 1903) 
states that the investigations of Tessarini 
showed that tobacco smoke passed over the or- 
ganisms of human cholera and pneumonia killed 
them in from 10 to 30 minutes. He also states 

199 



that the Cigar Manufacturers Association of 
Hamburg reported that in the cholera epidemic 
of 1892 in that city, only 8 out of 5,000 em- 
ployes in the cigar factories there were at- 
tacked by the disease and that, there were only 
4 deaths. Professor Wenck, of the Imperial 
Institute of Berlin, has published an account of 
this cholera epidemic (see Laucett francaise, 
Paris, 1912, p. 1425). His conclusions favor 
the preservative action of tobacco. It was 
clearly shown that slightly moist tobacco was a 
fatal germicide for the cholera bacillus; all 
microbes die in it in 24 hours. The examination 
of cigars made in Hamburg during the epidemic 
showed that they were absolutely free from 
bacilli. Wenck asserts also that cholera mic- 
robes die in % hour, 1 hour, and 2 hours after 
having been placed in contact with the smoke 
of Brazilian, Sumatran and Havana tobacco. 
The fumes of tobacco will besides kill in five 
minutes the cholera microbes obtained from 
saliva. Fullerton already quoted examined a 
small number of mouths (74) in the Johns 
Hopkins Hospital at Baltimore. Of those who 
did not use tobacco in any form a larger per- 
centage showed signs of dental caries and decay 
of an advanced stage than in the case of tobacco 
users. Similarly in the case of women who 
never used tobacco; and, although there was a 
200 



much greater care and cleansing of the teeth, 
yet the percentage of decay and disease was 
higher than in the case of men using tobacco. 
Fullerton says, "The smoking or chewing of 
tobacco is decidedly germicidal. Chewing, by 
exercising the teeth, helps nutrition and elimi- 
nates pathological agencies both by destroying 
them in situ and by removing them in the ex- 
pectoration." Rideal (already quoted) men- 
tions that Dr. Burney, the senior medical officer 
of Greenwich Hospital, London, asserts that 
the tobacco smoking inmates of that institution 
enjoyed comparative immunity from epidemics. 
From these opinions and examples it seems 
quite clear that whatever portions of the de- 
composition products of tobacco reach the 
mouth and mix with the saliva, or propagate 
themselves in the immediate surroundings of the 
smoker, are likely to have extremely good ef- 
fects. It would be easy to multiply these 
opinions but there is no use laboring the argu- 
ment. There is a matter, however, it will do 
no harm to mention here. Today it is being 
gradually recognized by the medical profession 
that the conditions which lead ultimately to gas- 
tric and intestinal ulcer including appendicitis 
are entirely due to infection. At the 1912 meet- 
ing of the British Medical Association this was 
clearly manifested and some of the leading 

201 



authorities in England pointed out the import- 
ance of the mouth as a focus of infection in 
such diseases. Now if this is so, it is at once 
apparent how important tobacco as a mouth 
disinfectant and germicide becomes ; and it may 
incidentally throw some light (otherwise un- 
explained) on the fact constantly observed that 
in persons under 30 years old these diseases are 
far more common amongst women than in the 
case of men. The use of tobacco is not asserted 
as a reason, but it may be. 

With regard to other beneficial effects — 
Clouston, FuUerton and Marvin, state that the 
moderate use of tobacco has a beneficial effect 
on the digestive system as in general it causes 
an increased flow of saliva and gastric juice 
which helps in the digestion of food; it also 
stimulates the muscles and mucous membrane of 
the stomach and intestines. The sedative effects 
of tobacco on the nerves is a preventative of 
nervous dyspepsia and is valuable for the pro- 
motion of good digestion. 

While much has been written on the effects 
of excessive smoking on the nervous system little 
has been said of the good effects of moderate 
smoking. Every smoker realizes that the sooth- 
ing effects of tobacco on the nerves is perhaps 
its most valuable property. Clouston's opinion, 
already quoted (and none could be better), is 

202 



that "tobacco exercises a soothing influence 
when the nervous system is in anyway irritable ; 
it tends to calm and continuous thinking." 
Fullerton says, "It gives a composure and feel- 
ing of well-being which are beneficial to mind 
and body." Of these facts there can be no 
doubt because they are matters of common daily 
observation and experience. Most smokers find 
a solace and quieting influence from their eve- 
ning smoke after the worries of a troublesome 
day which no other agent can give them. The 
effect produced may be partly psychological 
but that does not matter. Indeed the strenu- 
ousness of life in the age in which we live seems 
to demand such a help and nothing appears to 
supply the want so efficiently, so pleasantly, 
and with less harm, than a quiet smoke. It puts 
the smoker at peace with himself and at peace 
with others. Bush found in his investigations 
on the mental effects of tobacco on college stu- 
dents that there was a temporary loss of ten 
per cent in mental efficiency in certain faculties 
of the mind. This is probably true enough 
though his results are not quite conclusive. On 
the other hand many men find that they can 
think more clearly and more consecutively when 
helped by a smoke. Indeed they smoke when 
they have a knotty problem to solve. The 

203 



point need not be argued; all smokers will 
agree with it. 

Judged from a psychological standpoint the 
effects of tobacco are entirely favorable. To 
the sleepless, the worried, to him who is troubled 
in mind or vexed in spirit, the pipe or cigar is 
a never-failing remedy to soothe and cheer. It 
is the feeling of betterment which it engenders 
and the spirit of good will which tobacco creates 
that are responsible for its universal use by men 
differing widely in grade and condition of life 
as well as in mental caliber ; it reaches the com- 
mon springs which move humanity ; its qualities 
are those which have made the pipe a symbol of 
peace and a bond of fellowship and union be- 
tween man and man from Pole to Pole. 

From a general summing up of the opinions 
which have been quoted the question might 
finally be asked, "Is tobacco on the whole harm- 
ful or beneficial to its users?" The answer 
seems to be this : "Tobacco to the extent used 
on the average has some slight injurious ef- 
fects and some slight beneficial effects on the 
physical system. It is an excellent preservative 
agent against contagious and infectious disease. 
Mentally its effects are overwhelmingly bene- 
ficial." In every particular case a man must 
judge for himself, taking account of his indi- 

204 



vidual idiosyncrasies and conditions whether the 
use of tobacco is beneficial to him or otherwise. 

REFERENCES 

Laucet. London, 1906. Vol. I, p. 984. The 
ger7n-destroying properties of tobacco. 

Arnold, M. B. On the effects of the Exposure of 
Tobacco Smoke on the growth of pathogenic 
micro-organisms. Laucet. London, 1907. Vol. 
I, p. 1220. 

Murray, J. C. Smoking; when injurious, when 
innocuous, when beneficial. London, 1871. 

Lezars, I. The use and abuse of Tobacco. Phila- 
delphia, 1883. 



205 



CHAPTER XIX 

MISCELLANEOUS 

Revenue, taxation, etc., in connection with 

TOBACCO. Free imports. Diseases of 

TOBACCO. Tobacco flavors. 

Formulae. 



207 



NOTES 

The "per capita" consumption of tobacco 
in the U. S. has increased from 1.6 lbs. in 1863 
to between 5 and 6 lbs. at the present time. 



At the present time the United states collects 
about 70 million dollars annually from domestic 
taxation on manufactured tobacco; and, in ad- 
dition, about 25 million in import duties. The 
actual total income from tobacco in 1912 was 
96 million dollars. For the fiscal year ending 
June 30, 1913, tax was paid on the following 
"withdrawn for consumption": 

Cigars weighing more than 3 lbs. per thous- 
and, 7,699,037,543. 

Cigars weighing less than 3 lbs. per thousand, 
1,033,778,160. 

Cigarettes weighing more than 3 lbs. per 
thousand, 18,194,311. 

Cigarettes weighing less than 3 lbs. per 
thousand, 14,276,771,160. 

Snuif, lbs., 33,209,488. 

Tobacco, chewing and smoking, lbs., 401,- 
362,620. 



In France, Spain, Austria, Italy and other 
countries the government has a monopoly over 
the manufacture and sale of tobacco products. 



Purchase of leaf in the U. S. is made through 
government agents. 



The quantities of tobacco which may be im- 
ported "free of duty" into European countries 
is as follows: 

Austro-Hungary — 12 cigars, 35 grams to- 
bacco. 

Belgium — None. 

Bulgaria — 50 cigars, 50 cigarettes, 50 grams 
tobacco. 

Denmark — None. 

Egypt — 25 cigars, 100 cigarettes, 200 grams 
tobacco. 

France — 30 cigars, 300 cigarettes. 

Germany — Enough for immediate use. 

Great Britain — 12 cigars, 20 cigarettes. 

Holland — None. 

Italy — 6 cigars, 15 cigarettes. 

Norway — 100 cigars. 

Portugal — None. 

Russia — 100 cigars, 100 cigarettes, 100 
grams tobacco. 

Spain — None. 

Sweden — None. 

Turkey — None. 



In U. S. 50 cigars and 300 cigarettes may be 
imported free. 

210 



Small variations in the cost of manufacture 
(including the cost of leaf), which do not ex- 
ceed 10%, are usually borne by the manufac- 
turer, and do not affect the price to the con- 
sumer. But increase in taxation, either in- 
ternal revenue or tariff, usually occasions a 
diminution in consumption as it invariably in- 
creases the cost. 



The diseases of tobacco due to insect 

PESTS, ETC. 

Tobacco, from the seed bed to the storage of 
the manufactured products, is subject to at- 
tack by insects, etc., and vigilance must at all 
times be exercised to keep it free from such 
harmful influences. 

Only a few of the principal agencies attack- 
ing tobacco will be mentioned here as the sub- 
ject is of more interest to the specialist than to 
the smoker. The growing plant is particularly 
subject to Cut-worm disease and Horn-worm 
disease. Cut-worms are the larvae of several 
species of moths. They injure the young, ten- 
der plant and feed on the leaves. Horn-worms 
are the larvae of the Sphinx Moth. 2 or 3 will 
ruin a plant in one day. 

Stored tobacco is subject to many diseases. 
Bud caperpillarsy the leaf-miner or split-worm 

211 



and the Tobacco -flea beetle are minute beetles 
which attack it. Mosaic disease. Frog-eye or 
Leaf-spot are probably bacterial diseases. 

In addition, tobacco, particularly during the 
curing process, is subject to pole-burn, pole- 
sweat, or house-burn, stem-rot, white-vein, and 
various forms of mould, all these being prob- 
ably due to bacteria. 

For additional information see: 
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Farmers^ Bulle- 
tin, 120. 
Howard, L. O. The principal insects affecting 
the tobacco plant. Washington, D. C, 1900. 
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. Bureau of 
Entomology. Bulletin 65. 



Speckled of spotted cigars 
Many smokers of cigars have the idea that 
there is some special virtue in a cigar that 
shows specks or spots of discoloration in the 
leaf. As a matter of fact such spots have 
nothing whatever to do with the quality of the 
tobacco. The occurrence of such spots is ac- 
counted for differently. Some say the spots 
are due to certain bacteria which attack the 
leaf either when growing or fermenting and 
this most probably is the correct view. Others 
say that the spots are due to rain drops which, 

212 



sprinkled on the leaves, act as lenses and con- 
centrate the rays of the sun, thus causing 
a burning of the leaf in such spots. Some 
think the spots are caused by a worm. On 
account of the prejudice of smokers for 
speckled cigars dealers have been known to 
produce this appearance in the leaf artificially. 
There are different methods although resort is 
not often had at the present time to this prac- 
tice as the belief in this sign is no longer as 
prevalent as formerly. The following are ex- 
amples of such cigar speckling preparation, 
the chief ingredient being some active oxidiz- 
ing agent: 

Cigar speckling fluid: 

(Method 1.) Powdered Ammonium Carbon- 
ate and a concentrated solution of (H2 O2). 

Dissolve one part of the Ammonium Carbon- 
ate in 25 parts of the (H2 O2). Touch the 
cigar with this in spots with the end of a 
pointed stick. This gives the appearance of 
speckled Sumatran leaf. 

(Method 2.) The following method is said 
to be used by a large firm : 

Sodium Carbonate — 3 parts. 

Chlorinated Lime — 1 part. 

Mot Water — 8 parts. 

Dissolve the washing soda in the hot water, 
add the chlorinated lime, and heat to the boiling 

218 



point. When cool decant and cork tightly. 
This is sprinkled over the tobacco. — From 
American Druggest, Vol. 33, p. 328. 

Specks are sometimes caused by fluids used 
to destroy insects which attack the cigar after 
manufacture. 



Tobacco FiiAvoRiNG essences 

In the chapter treating of the manufacture 
of smoking and chewing tobacco it was stated 
that the tobacco leaf was often treated by cer- 
tain flavoring essences. The following are 
quoted as examples of such essences : 

Cascarilla Bark — 1 ounce. 

Fluid Extract Valerian — 1 ounce. 

Tonka Bean — 2 drams. 

English Rum — 3 ounces. 

— From Pharmaceutical Era, V. 21, 1899, 
p. 252. 

The following essences are said to be used in 
France and Germany: 

(1) For every 1,000 kilos, of tobacco take 
4 kilos, of purified potash; 5 kilos, table salt; 
10 kilos, canella water; 10 kilos, rose water; 5 
kilos, melilotte water; 2.8 grams tonka bean; 
pulverized. Color the whole with 4 grams Eng- 
lish red. Add when the tobacco is cut up. 

(2) 12 kilos, soda; 4 kilos, salts of tartar; 
10 kilos, canella water; 10 kilos, rose water; 5 

214 



kilos, melilotte water; 2.8 grams tonka bean; 
4 kilos, simple syrup; 5 kilos. French brandy; 
6 kilos, red sandal wood. — From Pharmaceuti- 
cal Era, V. 24, p. 67. 



Cigar Flavors 

Although the best cigars are made from the 
natural leaf and depend solely on its flavor and 
aroma, in the inferior article manufacturers 
sometimes resort to flavoring fluids. 

The following examples of cigar flavoring 
fluid formulae are taken from the Pharmaceuti- 
cal Era, V. 24, p. 455 : 

Formula 1, 

Extr. Vanilla — % gal. 

Alcohol and Jamaica Rum, — each, % gal. 

Tinct. Valerian — 8 ounces. 

Carraway Seed — 2 ounces. 

English Valerian Root — 2 ounces. 

Bitter Orange Peel — 2 ounces. 

Tonka Bean — 4 drams. 

Myrrh — 16 ounces. 

Formula 2. 

Valerianic Acid — 3 drams. 
Acetic Ether — 40 minims. 
Butyric Ether — 10 minims. 
Alcohol — 4 pints. 

215 



Formula S. 

Fluid Extr. Valerian — 1 ounce. 
Tinct. Tonka Bean — 8 ounces. 
Alcohol — enough to make 16 ounces. 



Formula to improve the burning qualities 
of tobacco 

2 lbs. of Saltpeter. 

Half gallon of Alcohol (100% proof). 

1 gallon Port Wine. 

9 gallons Lukewarm Water. 

Mix these ingredients thoroughly together, 
and add to every 100 lbs. weight of tobacco. 



Overcoming desire for tobacco 
(From The American Druggist, V. 51, 1908.) 
Kalometzer (Bulletin Medical, 1907) states 
that rinsing mouth with solution of silver 
nitrate (% o^ 1% strength) will overcome the 
desire. 



Preventing injurious action of nicotine 
A process for the treatment of tobacco 
leaves preventing in a way injurious action of 
nicotine and of acrid empyreumatic acid pro- 
ducts, was devised some years ago by Professor 
Gerold of Halle. His process is thus described: 
He employs for 8 kilograms of tobacco leaves 

216 



containing the usual percentage of nicotine a 
decoction prepared by boiling 15 grams of 
tannic acid with II/2 kilograms of water until 
the weight is reduced to one kilogram; then 30 
grams of the essential oil of origanum vulgare 
are added, after which the decoction is im- 
mediately removed from the fire. Having stood 
for some minutes the mixture is filtered and 
allowed to cool to about 16° C, when the 
preparation is ready to be spread over the 
previously weighed tobacco. When the absorp- 
tion of this mixture by the tobacco leaves is 
completed, they are subjected to slight pres- 
sure and moderate heat, after which they are 
ready for the manufacture of the various to- 
bacco products. 



Tannic acid is a well-known antidote for 
nicotine poisoning, and it is claimed for Gerold's 
process that while the undistilled nicotine is 
neutralized in its toxic qualities only by the 
tannic acid, that this does not influence at all 
its peculiar odor nor most of its other charac- 
teristics. — From the Pharmaceutical Era, July 
27, 1899, p. 144. 



Havana cigars are generally better if smoked 
fresh; domestic cigars are better if allowed to 
age in the box several months before using. 

217 



Remember that the phosphorus or sulphur 
of a match may spoil the flavor of a fine cigar. 
Be careful when you are lighting it to use only 
the edge of the match flame. 



If the total number of cigars smoked an- 
nually in the United States were placed end to 
end they would encircle the whole world more 
than twenty times. 




218 



INDEX 

Air Curing of Leaf 66 

Amber 169 

American Production of Tobacco Other Than in 

U. S 35 

Analysis of Tobacco 55 

Asia, Production of Tobacco in 31 

Bacterial Diseases, Effects of Tobacco on . . . 197 

Blends of Tobacco, How Made 78 

Briar Root 158 

Cancer and Tobacco 180 

Chemical Constituents of Tobacco 55 

Chewing Tobaccos 128 

Cigar and Cigarette Holders, Value of ... . 191 

Cigar Business in U. S 96 

Cigar Flavors 215 

Cigar Leaf Tobacco Grown in U. S 119 

Cigarette Paper 139 

Cigarette Smoking, Criticisms of 140 

Cigarettes, American 138 

Cigarettes, Kinds of 134 

Cigarettes, Nicotine in Smoke of 187 

Cigarettes, Statistics 133 

Cigarettes, Turkish 135 

Cigarettes, Turkish, Manufactured in the U. S. . 137 

Cigars, Classification of 104 

Cigars, Composition of 113 

Cigars, Desirable Qualities of 113 

Cigars, Hand-made 101 

Cigars, History 95 

Cigars, Imported Kinds, in U. S 114 

Cigars, Machine-made 103 

Cigars, Manufactured in U. S 117 

Cigars, Speckles or Spots on 21Q 

219 



Cigars, Statistics of Production and Consumption in 

U. S 96 

Cigars, Various Terms Regarding 107 

Coloring Meerschaum Pipes 169 

Consumption of Tobacco in U. S 92 

Cuban Cigar Leaf 118 

Cuban Tobacco 35 

Curing of Tobacco Leaf 63 

Digestive System and Use of Tobacco .... 202 

Diseases of Tobacco Leaf 211 

Disinfecting Action of Tobacco 199 

East Indian Tobacco 38 

Europe, Production of Tobacco 32 

Exportation of Tobacco from U. S 91 

Eyes and Use of Tobacco 189 

Fermentation of Tobacco, Action of Microbes . . 81 

Fermentation of Tobacco, Chemistry 80 

Fermentation of Tobacco Leaf 79 

Flavoring Essences 214 

Flue Curing of Leaf 65 

Hand-made Cigars 101 

Havana Cigars 115 

Holders for Cigars and Cigarettes, Value of . . 191 

Infection, Value of Tobacco Smoking Against . . 197 

Insects Affecting Tobacco Leaf 211 

Life Insurance and Tobacco 188 

Machine-made Cigars 103 

Manufactured Products of Tobacco in U. S., Sta- 
tistics 89 

Meerschaum 155 

Microbes, Action in Fermentation of Tobacco . . 81 

Mind, Effects of Tobacco Smoking 202 

Mouthpiece of Pipes, Importance 161 

Nerves, Effect of Tobacco Smoking on ... . 202 

Nicotine 57 

220 



Nicotine, Amount in Tobacco Smoke 183 

Nicotine Contents of Tobaccos 185 

Nicotine Effects on Human System 183 

Open Fire Method of Curing Leaf 65 

Packing of Tobacco Leaf for Market 69 

Perique Tobacco 50, 125 

Philippine Cigars 117 

Pipe Smoking Tobaccos, Kinds of 124 

Pipe Smoking Tobacco, Qualities of 123 

Pipe Stem, Importance 161 

Pipes, Briar Root, Making of 159 

Pipes, Care of 167 

Pipes, History of 151 

Pipes, Importation of. Into U. S 166 

Pipes, Materials Used in Making 154 

Pipes, Meerschaum, Coloring 169 

Pipes, Meerschaum, Making of 156 

Pipes, Special Kinds of 164 

Plug Tobacco for Chewing 128 

Potash, Importance in Tobacco 59 

Psychological Effects of Tobacco Smoking . . . 202 

Rehandling of Tobacco Leaf 77 

Revenue Derived from Tobacco 209 

Shade Grovm Tobacco 25 

Smoke, Tobacco, Nicotine in 187 

Snuff, Manufacture, Statistics and Kinds . . . 145 

Soils, Influence on Quality of Tobacco .... 22 
Suchsland's Experiments With Bacteria on Tobacco 

Leaf 81 

Sumatran Cigar Leaf 118 

Teeth and Tobacco 201 

Terms Used in Cigar Trade 107 

Throat Diseases Due to Use of Tobacco . . . . 179 

Tobacco, Analysis of Contents 55 

Tobacco, Botanical Information 15 

221 



Tobacco, Burning Qualities of 216 

Tobacco, Culture 21 

Tobacco, Denicotianized 216 

Tobacco, Effects of on Body 173 

Tobacco, Exportation from U. S 91 

Tobacco, Flavoring Essences 214 

Tobacco, Free Importation in Diiferent Countries . 210 

Tobacco, History 13 

Tobacco Leaf, Prices of 71 

Tobacco Manufacturing Industry, Capital, etc. . . 89 

Tobacco Plant, Varieties 16 

Treatment of Leaf Before Manufacture .... 82 

Turkish Tobacco 34 

United States, Production of Tobacco .... 41 

Varieties, Botanical of. Tobacco Plant .... 16 

Varieties of American Grown Tobacco Leaf . 44, 46 

Vulcanite, as Pipe Stem Material 163 

Warehouse System of Sale of Tobacco Leaf . . 70 

Water Pipes 165 

Yellowing of Tobacco Leaf 27 



222 



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